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THE   CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA 
OF  IRELAND 


THE  CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA  SERIES 

Edited  by  Richard  Burton 

THE 

CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA 

OF  IRELAND 


BY 


ERNEST  A.   BOYD 


N'OVRrPERt 


qqVMVAD  •  Q3$ 


BOSTON 

LITTLE,  BROWN,   AND  COMPANY 

1917 


Copyright^  1917, 
Bt  Little,  Brown,  and  Company. 

All  rights  reserved 
Published  February,  1917 


WortoooU  pttaa 

Set  up  and  electrotyped  by  J.  S.  Gushing  Co.,  Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 

Presswork  by  S.  J.  Parkhill  &  Co.,  Boston,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


8789 


^  TO 

S  H.  L.  MENCKEN 


THEAIHS  Am^ 


CONTENTS 

OHAFTXB  PAGK 

I    The  Irish  Literary  Theatre   .        i        ,        .  1 

II    Edward  Martyn 12 

III  The  Beginnings  of  the  Irish  National  The- 

atre    32 

IV  William  Butler  Yeats 47 

V    The  Impulse  to  Folk  Drama  ;  J.  M.  Synge  and 

Padraic  Colum 88 

VI    Peasant  Comedy:  Lady  Gregory  and  Wil- 
liam Boyle 121 

Vn    Later  Playwrights 142 

VlII    The  Ulster  Literary  Theatre        ,        .        .  170 

IX    Summary  and  Conclusion  .....  193 

Bibliographical  Appendix         ....  201 

Index      ...••••••  211 


THE  CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA 
OF  IRELAND 

CHAPTER  I 
The  Irish  Literary  Theatre 

The  last  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century  was 
marked,  m  Germany,  France,  and  England,  by  a 
strong  reaction  against  the  decadence  into  which  the 
art  of  the  theatre  had  fallen.  When  the  Freie  Biihne, 
Theatre  Libre  and  Independent  Theatre  were  established 
their  task  was  the  by  no  means  inconsiderable  one  of 
driving  from  the  stage  the  incredible  sentimentalities 
and  the  machine-made  effects  of  the  popular  drama. 
Most  of  the  names  which  had  for  years  occupied  the 
attention  of  playgoers  are  now  lost  in  the  obscurity 
from  which  they  should  never  have  emerged.  Occa- 
sionally touring  companies  are  found,  in  the  more  un- 
sophisticated regions,  to  galvanize  the  corpses  of  those 
plays  which  excited  the  indignant  ambition  of  the 
progressive  dramatists  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago. 
Yet,  in  spite  of  undeniable  progress,  perhaps  best 
appreciated  when  the  mid- Victorian  play  confers  an 

1 


2        THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

unmerited  luster  upon  its  modern  Broadway  equiva- 
lent, in  spite  of  the  advantages  enjoyed  by  the  success- 
ful play  of  to-day  compared  with  its  predecessors  of 
the  "eighties",  it  is  generally  admitted  that  the 
theatre  badly  responds  to  the  intellectual  demands  of 
our  time. 

There  is,  however,  one  country  whose  drama  shows 
a  more  than  usual  consistency  in  its  intention  to  realize 
the  ideals  of  the  dramatic  reformers  who  instituted  the 
revolt  against  "Sardoodledom."  Ireland  did  not  es- 
cape the  influences  that  were  at  work  in  Western 
Europe  during  the  "  eighteen-nineties "  and  which 
gave  us,  under  Ibsen's  impulse,  a  Hauptmann,  a 
Brieux,  and  a  Shaw.  Instead,  however,  of  springing 
up  as  an  unrelated  movement,  in  the  midst  of  a  uni- 
versal acceptance  of  literary  and  dramatic  commercial- 
ization, the  Irish  Dramatic  Revival  became  at  once  a 
part  of  the  comprehensive  intellectual  awakening  which 
had  then  come  to  be  known  as  "  the  Celtic  Renaissance." 
Ever  since  1880,  when  Standish  O'Grady's  epic  history 
of  Ireland  had  fired  the  imagination  of  a  young  genera- 
tion of  poets,  Ireland  had  been  giving  forth  unmistak- 
able signs  of  the  creative  urge  in  national  literature. 
W.  B.  Yeats  and  A.  E,  were  already  known  to  wide 
audiences,  and  the  existence  of  a  group  of  Irish  poets 
and  prose  writers  with  a  song  and  message  refreshingly 
unlike  the  literature  associated  with  The  Yelloiv  Book 
school,  confirmed  the  truth  of  Ireland's  Literary  Re- 
vival. Consequently,  when  the  wave  of  dramatic 
reform  reached  that  country,  just  as  the  nineteenth 
century  closed,  it  did  not  break  against  a  stony  in- 


THE   IRISH   LITERARY  THEATRE  3 

difference,  nor  was  it  diverted  into  shallow  streams 
which  soon  dried  up;  it  flowed  naturally  into  the 
vital  current  of  national  literary  activity. 

The  result  has  been  that  while  the  contemporaneous 
movements  towards  the  reorganization  of  the  theatre 
are  now  memories,  with  only  here  and  there  an  isolated 
dramatist  to  testify  to  their  passage,  there  is  in  Ire- 
land to-day  a  national  theatre,  devoted,  in  the  main,  to 
the  production  of  uncommercial  drama.  Without  the 
State  subvention  necessary  to  the  proper  support  of 
such  an  institution,  the  Irish  Theatre  has,  for  more 
than  fifteen  years,  given  practical  effect  to  the  plans 
and  theories  which  inspired  the  "free  stage"  propagan- 
dists in  Berlin,  Paris,  and  London.  The  latter  had  to 
resign  themselves  to  more  temporary  achievements, 
pending  the  time  when  their  best  talent  might  be 
absorbed  by  the  theatre  of  commerce.  The  Irish 
Dramatic  Movement  has  had  to  make  concessions  in 
order  to  obviate  the  difficulties  arising  out  of  economic 
dependence,  but  its  evolution  has  been  uninterruptedly 
in  the  direction  of  permanent  success.  It  has  not  been 
supported  by  a  coterie  only  but  has  enjoyed  the  satis- 
faction of  seeing  its  public  grow  to  meet  its  expansion, 
and  above  all,  it  has  been  creatively  fruitful.  That  is 
to  say,  the  Irish  Theatre  has  not  only  educated  the  play- 
goer and  influenced  the  dramatist,  but  has  created  a^ 
dramatic  literature,  and  given  birth  to  a  number  of  f 
plajnvrights  whose  genius  would  never  have  responded 
to  any  other  call. 

The  association  of  the  Irish  drama  with  the  Literary 
Revival  is,  therefore,  so  intimate  that  the  limitations 


4        THE    CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

imposed  upon  the  student  are  self-evident.  He  will 
concern  himself  neither  with  plays  which  accidentally 
or  incidentally  have  then*  setting  in  Ireland,  nor  with 
the  work  of  Irishmen  whose  spirit  is  as  remote  from 
their  country  as  the  scene  in  which  their  plays  are 
laid.  Either  of  these  conditions  will  exclude  from 
consideration  that  excellent  dramatization  of  Irish 
politics,  John  Bull's  Other  Island.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  works  of  Oscar  Wilde  are,  for  obvious  reasons, 
even  more  alien  to  the  study  of  Irish  drama  than  those 
of  Calderon,  who  wTote  St.  Patrick's  Purgatory,  or 
of  that  sLxteenth-century  Italian  dramatist,  Giovanni 
Giraldi,  whose  Arrenopia  found  its  scene  in  Limerick. 
Just  as  the  non-Gaelic  reader  understands  by  Irish 
literature  that  body  of  prose  and  poetry  which  has 
been  written  during  the  past  thirty  years  under  the 
influence  of  the  Celtic  Renaissance,  so  he  will  apply 
the  term  Irish  drama  to  the  manifestation  of  that 
influence  which  has  centered  about  the  theatre.  There 
is  an  interesting  Gaelic  literature  in  the  process  of 
creation,  and  still  more  remarkable  Gaelic  drama,  but 
neither  calls  for  attention  at  the  present  time.  It  will 
suffice  to  have  recalled  their  existence,  for  they  are  the 
all  important  background  in  any  attempt  to  picture 
the  Anglo-Irish  expression  of  our  national  life. 

The  almost  immediate  absorption  of  the  "new 
drama"  tendencies  by  the  forces  of  the  Literary  Re- 
vival in  Ireland  must  not,  however,  blind  us  to  the 
fact  that  the  Irish  Theatre  owes  its  birth  to  that 
general  impulse  of  the  period,  and  is  not  the  purely 
"Celtic"  creation  generally  supposed.     It  was,  at  its 


THE    IRISH    LITERARY   THEATRE  5 

inception,  a  local  reaction  to  the  prevalent  stimulus, 
which  impelled  men  to  seek  the  renovation  of  an  art 
abandoned  to  commercial  speculation.  The  current 
misconception  as  to  the  origins  and  founders  of  our 
Dramatic  Revival  is  due  to  the  fame  which  accom- 
panied the  second  phase  of  that  revival,  making  of  it 
the  best  known  aspect  of  the  Celtic  Renaissance.  We 
must,  therefore,  first  establish  the  separate  identity 
of  the  original  Irish  Literary  Theatre,  before  coming 
to  the  now  famous  achievements  of  the  Irish  National 
Theatre  Society.  The  former  was  essentially  a  part 
of  the  so-called  "Ibsenite  movement",  which  led  to 
the  establishment  of  the  Independent  Theatre  in 
London;  the  latter  was  a  part  of  the  general 
renascence  of  Irish  literature,  whose  progress  made  it 
possible  for  the  national  to  embrace  and  transform  the 
international  movement  of  ideas. 

Founded  in  1899,  the  Irish  Literary  Theatre  owed 
its  title  and,  in  a  large  measure  its  existence,  to  Edward 
Martyn,  whose  interest  in  the  drama  was  avowedly 
stimulated  by  the  revelation  of  Ibsen  and  the  Scandina- 
vian and  Russian  dramatists  to  a  belated  London  public. 
With  his  friends  George  Moore  and  W.  B.  Yeats,  of 
whom  the  former  had  contributed  to  the  repertoire 
of  the  Independent  Theatre,  he  projected  his  plan  of 
giving  Ireland  a  similar  stage  upon  which  literary  plays 
might  be  performed,  without  being  exposed  to  the 
exigencies  of  pure  profiteering.  His  resolve  was 
strengthened  by  the  fact  that  he  had  been  unable  to 
find  a  London  manager  sufficiently  appreciative  to 
produce  either  Alaeve  or   The  Heather  Field.    These 


6        THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

composed  his  first  volume  of  plays,  which  was  pub- 
lished in  1899  and  received  most  favorably  by  the 
critics,  thus  emphasizing  the  necessity  for  a  theatre 
where  such  work  could  secure  a  hearing.  Prior  to 
that  date  Martyn  and  Yeats  had  come  over  to  Ireland 
with  a  view  to  enlisting  aid  for  their  project.  Lady 
Gregory,  A.  E.,  Standish  O'Grady,  and  a  host  of 
others  prominent  in  various  departments  of  Irish  life, 
associated  themselves  with  the  proposal,  and  soon  a 
suflScient  number  of  guarantors  was  found  to  bring 
the  Irish  Literary  Theatre  into  existence. 

At  the  inaugural  performance,  which  took  place  on 
May  8,  1899,  The  Countess  Cathleen  by  W.  B.  Yeats 
occupied  the  program,  and  the  following  evening 
Edward  Martyn's  The  Heather  Field  was  produced. 
In  February,  1900,  a  second  season  opened  with  The 
Bending  of  the  Bough  by  George  Moore,  which  was 
succeeded  by  Edward  Martyn's  Maeve,  and  a  heroic 
drama  of  ancient  Ireland,  The  Last  Feast  of  the  Fianna, 
by  Alice  Milligan,  the  sole  contribution  of  importance 
by  this  distinguished  poetess  to  our  dramatic  litera- 
ture. Finally,  in  October,  1901,  the  Irish  Literary 
Theatre  terminated  its  ofiicial  career,  after  the  pro- 
duction of  Diarmuid  and  Grania,  written  in  collabora- 
tion by  Yeats  and  Moore,  and  of  the  first  Gaelic  play 
performed  in  any  theatre,  Casadh  an  t-Sugdin  (The 
Twisting  of  the  Rope)  by  Douglas  Hyde.  In  brief 
summary,  its  achievement  was  the  performance  of  six 
plays  in  English,  and  one  in  Gaelic,  all  with  Irish 
themes,  but  played,  with  the  exception  of  the  last, 
by  English  actors.    It  will  be  seen  then,  that  while 


THE   IRISH   LITERARY  THEATRE  7 

an  important  step  had  been  taken  in  the  direction  of  a 
National  Theatre,  the  essential  condition  of  national 
drama,  namely,  native  interpretation,  was  lacking. 

It  is  doubtful,  however,  if  the  creation  of  a  national 
drama  was  ever  the  main  purpose  of  the  enterprise. 
W.  B.  Yeats  certainly  had  this  object  in  view,  but 
both  his  coadjutors  were  far  more  concerned  to  facili- 
tate the  production  of  literary  drama,  without  special 
reference  to  its  nationality.  Consequently  the  plays 
produced  reflect,  as  we  shall  see,  this  double  tendency. 
Yeats,  with  the  almost  negligible  support  of  Alice 
Milligan,  represented  the  character  which  the  Irish 
Theatre  was  subsequently  to  assume,  whereas  Martyn 
and  Moore  stood  for  the  more  cosmopolitan  "  drama  of 
ideas"  which  they  had  learned  to  admire  in  London. 
The  institution  which  they  conceived  would  have 
given  room  to  the  poetic  and  folk  plays  of  Yeats's 
ambition,  but  only  on  the  same  terms  as  would  have 
been  accorded  to  Chekhov  or  Strindberg.  Elements 
of  dissolution  were  contained  in  this  clash  of  motives, 
so  that  the  association  of  effort  lasted  only  long  enough 
to  lay  the  foundation  of  the  movement  which  was  to 
give  us  a  national  theatre. 

An  examination  of  the  work  of  Edward  Martyn  will 
enable  us  to  estimate  precisely  the  significance  of  his 
role  in  the  evolution  of  contemporary  Irish  drama.  It 
will  then  be  evident  why  the  Irish  Literary  Theatre 
must  be  traced  to  other  sources  than  those  from  which 
the  Irish  National  Theatre  derives.  At  the  same  time, 
we  shall  notice  the  point  of  transition,  which  might 
have  become  one  of  fusion,  had  more  foresight  been 


8        THE   CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF  IRELAND 

possible  at  the  time.  Martyn  was  not  only  the  prime 
mover  of  the  Literary  Theatre,  but  he  most  perfectly 
embodies  the  dramatic  ideal  which  that  institution 
represented,  as  against  the  aims  subsequently  for- 
mulated by  the  theory  and  practice  of  the  Irish 
National  Theatre  Society.  While  the  plays  of  Yeats 
and  Alice  Milligan  contained  no  element  irreconcilable 
with  the  latter,  those  of  Martyn  have  never  become 
part  of  the  Irish  Players'  repertoire. 

In  order  to  appreciate  the  relation  of  theory  to  prac- 
tice in  Martyn's  case,  we  must  preface  an  analysis  of 
his  writings  by  a  brief  exposition  of  the  principles  which 
attended  their  production.  These  will  be  found  in 
Beliaine,  which  was,  during  the  years  1899  and  1900, 
"the  organ  of  the  Irish  Literary  Theatre."  In  the 
first  issue  we  read :  "  Everywhere  critics  and  writers, 
who  wish  for  something  better  than  the  ordinary  play 
of  commerce,  turn  to  Norway  for  an  example  and  an 
inspiration."  Then  follows  a  reference  to  the  Theatre 
Libre  and  Independent  Theatre,  and  such  inexpensive 
theatres  "which  associations  of  men  of  letters  hire 
from  time  to  time,  that  they  may  see  on  the  stage  the 
plays  of  Henrik  Ibsen,  Maurice  Maeterlinck,  Gerard 
Hauptmann,  Jose  Echegaray,  or  some  less  famous 
dramatist  who  has  written,  in  the  only  way  literature 
can  be  written,  to  express  a  dream  which  has  taken 
possession  of  his  mind."  The  examples  and  influences 
which  prompted  Martyn,  Moore,  and  Yeats  are  evi- 
dent from  these  opening  lines  of  their  manifesto,  and, 
that  there  should  be  no  doubt  as  to  their  intentions, 
they   announce :     "  The   Irish   Literary   Theatre   will 


THE   IRISH   LITERARY  THEATRE  9 

attempt  to  do  in  Dublin  something  of  what  has  been 
done  in  London  and  Paris;"  adding,  "if  it  has  even 
a  small  welcome,  it  will  produce,  somewhere  about  the 
old  festival  of  Beltaine,  at  the  beginning  of  every  spring, 
a  play  founded  upon  an  Irish  subject." 

There  is  nothing  in  these  statements  which  would 
expressly  preclude  the  performance  of  the  folk-plays 
and  peasant  drama  now  so  completely  identified  with 
the  Irish  Theatre.  Indeed,  the  editor  of  Beltaine 
seemed  to  have  some  such  departure  from  the  English 
and  Continental  models  in  his  mind  when  he  wrote : 
"The  plays  will  differ  from  those  produced  by  associa- 
tions of  men  of  letters  in  London  and  Paris,  because 
times  have  changed,  and  because  the  intellect  of  Ire- 
land is  romantic  and  spiritual,  rather  than  scientific 
and  analytical."  Nevertheless,  it  is  impossible,  when 
turning  over  the  pages  of  Beltaine,  to  escape  the  feeling 
that  the  Scandinavian  theatre,  with  its  French  and 
English  disciples,  was  constantly  in  the  minds  of  those 
who  planned  to  give  Ireland  something  analogous. 
Even  the  convention  of  the  printed  play,  that  essen- 
tially Shavian-English  escape  from  the  limitations  of 
the  commercial  stage,  was  accepted.  "In  all  or  almost 
all  cases  the  plays  must  be  published  before  they  are 
acted,  and  no  play  will  be  accepted  which  could  not 
hope  to  succeed  as  a  book."  The  popularity  of  the 
printed  play  has  been  largely  due  to  the  virtue  which 
the  "advanced  dramatists"  had  to  make  of  necessity, 
in  the  heroic  days  of  the  Ibsen-Shaw  crusade.  It  has 
facilitated  the  de-dramatization  of  the  contemporary 
"theatre  of  ideas",  and  does  not  deserve  any  more 


10      THE    CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF  IRELAND 

respect  than  many  another  stage  convention  displaced 
by  the  advent  of  the  talking  play  —  the  "arguments", 
"conversations",  and  other  substitutes  for  drama  in 
recent  years.  Yet  we  find  the  Irish  Literary  Theatre 
beginning  its  career  with  this  conventional  novelty  of 
the  period,  convinced  apparently  that  some  special 
quality  attaches  to  the  work  of  a  playwright  who  ad- 
dresses himself  to  the  reader  first,  to  the  playgoer  after- 
wards. 

Significantly,  it  will  be  found  that  the  vast  majority 
of  the  plays  in  the  repertoire  of  the  National  Theatre 
make  their  appeal  primarily  to  the  eye  and  ear.  They 
appear  in  book  form,  it  is  true,  but  that  is  by  no  means 
a  condition  precedent  of  their  acceptance  or  success. 
W.  B.  Yeats  has  \\Titten  eloquently  and  at  length 
upon  the  claims  of  the  poetic  play,  and  of  the  relation 
between  "literature  and  the  living  voice",  clearly 
indicating  a  constant  preoccupation  far  removed  from 
the  interest  of  the  printed  plays  as  such.  The  speak- 
ing of  verse  has  always  been  his  chief  concern  in  the 
theatre,  and  the  well-known  superiority  of  the  Irish 
Players  in  their  interpretation  of  poetic  and  peasant 
plays  is  due  to  the  rhythm  of  their  speech.  The  English 
actors,  with  the  exception  of  Florence  Farr,  who  played 
during  the  tliree  years  of  the  Literary  Theatre,  could 
not  assert  the  superiority  of  the  human  voice  over 
print  so  wonderfully  as  the  later  group  of  players, 
trained  by  the  brothers  Fay  for  the  Irish  National 
Theatre.  Consequently,  this  fact  alone  constituted  a 
serious  obstacle  to  the  reconcilement  of  the  conflicting 
ideals  cherished  by  the  founders  of  the  original  Theatre. 


THE   IRISH   LITERARY  THEATRE  11 

In  the  second  number  of  Beltaine  we  find  Yeats  already 
confessing  to  a  certain  disappointment  in  his  hope  of 
having  plays  in  verse  adequately  performed.  After 
his  experience  with  The  Countess  Cathleen,  he  writes : 
"I  rather  shrink  from  producing  another  verse  play, 
unless  I  get  some  opportunitj'  for  experiment  with  my 
actors  in  the  speaking  of  verse." 

By  way  of  summary  we  may  say  that  the  dominant 
note  of  Beltaine  is  cosmopolitan  rather  than  national. 
While  Yeats  was  pleading  for  dramas  of  Irish  legend 
and  classical  history,  his  collaborators  were  arguing 
from  the  example  of  the  dramatic  innovations  of  Con- 
tinental Europe.  In  support  of  the  former  there  is 
little  beyond  vague  announcements  of  plays,  which 
have  never  materialized,  by  Fiona  Macleod  and  Stan- 
dish  O'Grady;  in  support  of  the  latter,  there  came 
articles  dealing  with  the  rise  of  the  intellectual  drama, 
and  some  of  the  most  remarkable  pieces  written  in 
English  under  the  influence  of  Ibsen.  On  the  one  side 
was  the  theatre  of  beauty,  on  the  other  the  theatre  of 
ideas,  concerned  respectively  for  the  importance  of 
rhythm  and  diction  and  for  the  importance  of  the 
printed  play.  All  the  circumstances  were  propitious 
to  the  success  of  the  latter,  and  unfavorable  to  the 
duration  of  an  enterprise  based  upon  so  slight  an  iden- 
tity of  purpose.  The  only  common  ground  was  the 
general  desire  to  follow  an  almost  universal  revolt 
against  the  stereotyped  drama  of  the  commercial 
theatre. 


CHAPTER  II 
Edward  Martyn 

George  Moore's  veracious  essay  in  indiscreet 
autobiography,  Hail  and  Farewell,  contains  no  figure 
more  interesting  than  Edward  Mart;yTi,  who  survives 
the  ordeal  of  fictional  reconstruction  as  successfully 
as  A.  E.,  and  John  Eglinton,  in  that  all  three  emerge 
undiminished.  Those  three  volumes  of  Irish  literary 
history  drew  attention  to  the  personality  of  many 
writers  who  would  have  preferred  to  let  their  own  books 
speak  for  them,  and  Edward  Martyn  may  be  counted 
amongst  their  number.  Biographically  there  is  little 
to  relate  of  him  that  bears  upon  his  work  for  the  Irish 
Theatre.  A  Nationalist  of  strong  convictions,  he  has 
found  himself  involved  in  conflicts  arising  out  of  the 
clash  of  his  political  opinions  with  his  social  position 
as  a  landed  gentleman  and  magistrate,  in  a  country 
where  these  qualifications  were  traditionally  dissociated 
from  nationalism.  He  had  long  been  a  discriminating 
critic  and  lover  of  music,  before  the  Dramatic  Move- 
ment engaged  his  attention,  a  fact  with  which  his 
country  was  made  gratefully  acquainted,  when  he 
donated  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  found  a  Palestrina 
choir  in  the  Catholic  Pro-Cathedral,  Dublin. 

12 


EDWARD   MARTTN  13 

His  artistic  bent  was  not,  however,  solely  in  that 
direction  which  has  provided  the  author  of  Ave  wuth 
material  for  the  exercise  of  a  peculiar  talent.  When  he 
left  Dublin  to  complete  his  education  at  Oxford  Univer- 
sity, his  fancy  had  turned  to  thoughts  of  poetry,  and 
in  1885  he  had  prepared  a  book  of  verse  for  publication, 
but  in  spite  of  his  twenty-six  years  and  his  Irish  birth, 
he  resisted  the  impulse,  and  destroyed  the  manuscript. 
It  was  not  until  1890  that  he  made  his  first  venture  into 
literature,  when  he  published  Morgante  the  Lesser,  under 
the  pseudonjTH,  "Sirius."  This  extraordinary  novel 
did  not  reveal  anji;hing  of  the  future  dramatist.  It 
was  a  brutal  satire,  Swiftian  in  its  manner,  upon  the 
scientifico-materialistic  philosophy  of  that  period  when 
the  omnipotence  of  Darwinian  rationalism  had  not 
yet  been  rationally  disputed.  Written  in  the  elaborate, 
discursive  fashion  of  the  eighteenth-century  satirists, 
the  book  was  not  one  to  appeal  to  the  average  novel 
reader,  but  it  deserves  attention,  if  only  because  of  a 
reflected  interest  which  his  subsequent  works  have 
conferred  upon  it.  We  shall  see  that  his  conception 
of  the  nature  of  satire  did  not  materially  alter  when  he 
came  to  project  his  fancies  upon  the  stage. 

In  1899  he  published  The  Heather  Field  and  Maeve 
in  one  volume,  with  a  preface  by  George  Moore,  and 
these  were  the  two  plays  which  constituted  the  greatest 
successes  of  the  Irish  Literary  Theatre,  where  they  were 
almost  immediately  produced.  So  successful  was  The 
Heather  Field  that  it  was  performed  shortly  afterwards 
in  London  and  New  York,  and  was  translated  for 
production  in  Germany.    In  confirmation  of  what  has 


14      THE    CONTEMPOKARY   DRAMA   OF  IRELAND 

already  been  said  as  to  the  examples  by  which  the 
founders  of  the  Irish  Literary  Theatre  were  inspired, 
we  find  in  George  Moore's  preface  a  characteristic 
analysis  of  the  Independent  Theatre  movement  in 
London.  With  considerable  irony  he  describes  his 
adventures  with  Mr.  William  Archer,  the  champion  of 
Ibsen,  and  with  the  managers  or  actors  who  professed 
to  be  interested  in  literary  drama.  As  he  rightly  says, 
the  collapse  of  the  theatre  of  ideas  in  London  was 
mainly  due  to  the  indiscriminate  enthusiasm  of  the 
critics,  and  the  public  led  by  them,  for  all  plays  which 
seemed  in  any  way  to  depart  from  the  conventional 
success  of  the  Sardou-Rostand  type.  Pinero,  in  partic- 
ular, is  accused  by  Moore  of  having  utterly  demoralized 
the  advocates  of  progress,  who  mistook  his  suburban 
audacities  for  advanced  ideas,  and  his  literary  melo- 
drama for  a  new  technique.  Incidentally,  it  tran- 
spires that  neither  the  producers  nor  the  critics  could 
be  induced  by  Moore  to  consider  favorably  The  Heather 
Field.  Obviously,  we  must  conclude  that  Martyn's 
aim  was  to  write  for  the  existing  London  theatres  open 
to  literary  plays,  and  not  to  found  a  theatre  for  the 
special  purpose.  Finding  no  encouragement  he  then 
bethought  himself  of  a  joint  undertaking,  with  Yeats 
and  Moore  as  his  active  supporters,  —  the  former 
having  experienced  London  production,  when  his 
Land  of  Heart's  Desire  was  played  at  the  Avenue 
Theatre  in  1894,  the  latter  having  shared  in  the  work 
of  the  Independent  Theatre,  where  The  Strike  at  Arling- 
ford  was  produced  in  1893. 
The  three  acts  of  The  Heather  Field  are  devoted  to 


EDWARD   MARTYN  15 

a  psychological  analysis  of  Garden  Tyrrell,  the  Irish 
landowner,  whose  world  of  reality  is  situated  in  the 
land  of  his  own  dreams,  but  who  has  been  forced  to 
grapple  with  the  material  factors  of  life  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  his  estate.  Although  marriage  has 
thrust  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  his  position 
upon  him,  Tyrrell  is  temperamentally  incapable  of 
abandoning  himself  wholly  to  everyday  affairs.  The 
idealist  in  him  soon  conceived  the  quixotic  passion 
of  reclaiming  from  the  Atlantic  a  wild  field  of  bog  and 
heather,  and  when  the  play  opens  we  find  him  immersed 
in  the  plans  and  difficulties  attendant  upon  the  realiza- 
tion of  his  dream.  He  has  mortgaged  his  property 
heavily  to  obtain  money  for  the  work  of  draining  and 
removing  the  rocks  from  the  heather  field,  and  his 
wife  is  anxious  to  secure  control  of  the  estate,  in  order 
to  prevent  him  from  utterly  ruining  their  fortunes,  by 
raising  further  loans  to  repair  the  damage  caused  to 
the  adjoining  land,  in  the  course  of  improving  the  field 
in  question.  Tyrrell  has  allowed  his  passion  so  to 
possess  him  that  he  has  become  oblivious  to  every- 
thing, and  clings  with  increasing  desperation  to  what 
he  feels  is  his  lost  ideal.  He  is  in  a  state  of  intense 
exaltation,  aggravated  by  the  constant  antagonism  of 
a  very  matter-of-fact  wife,  whose  sympathy  for  him 
was  never  deep,  and  is  now  turned  to  a  mixture  of  fear 
and  hatred,  by  the  spectacle  of  the  inevitable  bank- 
ruptcy into  which  they  are  drifting. 

The  strangeness  of  her  husband's  manner,  his  vision- 
ary intensity,  and  the  obvious  calamity  which  threatens 
to  engulf  her  and  their  child,  serve  to  provide  Mrs. 


16      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

Tyrrell  with  the  weapon  she  requires.  In  the  typical 
Strindbergian  manner  she  sets  herself  to  have  her 
husband  declared  incompetent  on  the  ground  of  in- 
sanity. The  alienists  are  on  the  point  of  giving  the 
verdict  which  will  place  the  direction  of  Tyrell's  affairs 
in  his  wife's  hands,  but  are  dissuaded  by  his  close 
friend,  Barry  Ussher.  The  latter,  knowing  and  loving 
Tyrrell,  cannot  accept  the  theory  of  madness,  and  al- 
though he  appreciates  the  difficulty  of  Mrs.  Tyrrell's 
position,  he  cannot  permit  an  action  whose  effect 
would  assuredly  be  to  drive  the  idealist  insane.  Tyrrell 
is  thus  saved  from  being  put  under  restraint,  but  the 
catastrophe  feared  by  Ussher  is  merely  postponed. 
His  mortgages  and  debts  have  transformed  the  erst- 
while lenient  landlord  into  a  hard  taskmaster,  who 
turns  to  eviction,  as  did  so  many  of  his  fellows,  as  the 
way  out  of  his  owti  incapacity  and  bad  management. 
The  evicted  tenants  have  resorted  to  the  violence 
which  was  long  the  only  expression  of  their  side  of  the 
agrarian  campaign  in  Ireland,  and  TjTrcU  has  been 
provided  with  a  police  escort  to  protect  him  from  the 
vengeance  of  his  tenantry.  This  protection  is  so 
repulsive  to  him  that  he  prefers  to  remain  indoors, 
brooding  over  his  dream,  and  slipping  farther  away 
from  contact  with  the  present. 

As  he  lives  at  home,  thrown  back  upon  himself  and 
cherishing  memories  as  a  refuge  from  his  unhappy 
present.  Garden  Tyrrell  becomes  ever  more  engrossed 
in  the  symbolic  vision  of  the  heather  field,  where  the 
winds  sang  to  him  of  youth  and  happiness,  whose 
flowering  represents  the  consummation  of  joy  and  sue- 


EDWAED   MARTYN  17 

cess.  But  one  day  his  little  child  comes  to  him  with 
a  handful  of  heather  buds,  the  only  flowers  he  could 
find  while  playing  in  that  field  of  fate.  These  an- 
nounce the  triumph  of  nature  over  Tyrrell's  efforts; 
the  land  he  would  reclaim  has  become  waste  once  more, 
so  that  not  even  this  ideal  world  is  left  in  which  he 
could  wander  in  fancy.  The  blow  destroys  his  dream 
and  his  reason,  but  only  for  a  moment.  In  ecstatic 
vision  he  reasserts  his  idealism,  for  he  has  crossed 
forever  the  line  which  divides  the  material  from  the 
imaginative,  and  the  curtain  falls  upon  the  man  re- 
stored at  last  to  the  period  of  his  youth,  when  the 
earth  was  fau*  and  his  sphit  untroubled. 

The  part  of  Ibsen  in  the  conception  of  The  Heather 
Field  seems  perhaps  more  obvious  than  it  really  is. 
The  leitmotiv  derives  something  from  The  Wild  Duck, 
and  there  is  more  than  a  suggestion  of  Ghosts  in  the 
closing  scene,  when  Tyrrell  turns  to  his  child,  whom  he 
believes  to  be  his  brother  and  cries :  "  See,  even  now 
the  sky  is  darkening  as  in  that  storm  scene  of  the  old 
legend  I  told  you  on  the  Rhine.  See,  the  rain  across  a 
saffron  sun  trembles  like  gold  harp  strings,  through 
the  purple  Irish  Spring!"  And  then,  as  they  watch 
the  rainbow :  "  Oh,  mystic  highway  of  man's  speech- 
less longings !  my  heart  goes  forth  upon  the  rainbow 
to  that  horizon  of  joy !  "  {With fearful  exaltation.)  "  The 
voices  —  I  hear  them  now  triumphant  in  a  silver 
glory  of  song." 

George  Moore  asserts  that  it  was  "the  first  play 
written  in  English  inspired  by  the  examples  of  Ibsen", 
a  fact  of  which  he  failed  to  convince  Mr.  Archer,  who 


18      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

held,  of  course,  that  the  great  Scandinavian  dramatist 
was  essentially  a  social  reformer.  In  that  sense  it  is 
impossible  to  describe  Edward  Martyn  as  "an  Irish 
Ibsen",  for  he  has  never  professed  any  didactic  inten- 
tion, and  it  would  be  hard  to  say  wherein  consists  the 
"  purpose  "  of  The  Heather  Field.  As  Moore  pointed  out, 
we  sympathized  with  Tyrrell,  "although  all  right  and 
good  sense  are  on  the  wife's  side."  This,  however, 
was  not  the  case  in  London,  where,  we  have  the  author- 
ity of  Yeats  for  saying,  the  audience  approved  of  the 
proposal  to  lock  up  Tyrrell  as  a  madman.  In  Ireland 
the  doctors  were  hissed  by  the  less  sophisticated  mem- 
bers of  the  audience,  as  a  sign  of  their  disapproval  of 
Mrs.  Tyrrell's  intentions !  The  fact  is,  as  further 
examination  will  prove,  the  work  of  Martyn  may  be 
described  as  essentially  Ibsenite,  or  not,  —  according 
as  one  emphasizes  the  propagandist  aspect  of  Ibsen's 
dramas.  Inasmuch  as  the  latter  has  been  the  point 
upon  which  his  English  disciples  have  insisted,  their 
plays  have  all  tended  to  become  vehicles  for  the  ex- 
pression of  social  theories.  As  the  Irish  playwright 
avoided  this  procedure  he  cannot  be  termed  a  follower 
of  Ibsen,  as  the  expression  is  usually  employed. 

Naturally,  Edward  Martyn  was  subjected  to  the 
Norwegian  influence,  and  so  far  as  the  latter  has  colored 
modern  dramatic  technique,  he  is  truly  a  product  of 
the  period.  He  seems,  nevertheless,  to  have  given  a 
more  personal  imprint  to  his  rendering  of  the  lesson 
learned  by  his  contemporaries  from  Ibsen.  Instead  of 
merely  seizing  upon  the  facilities  for  propaganda 
afforded  by  the  abolition  of  worn-out  conventions,  he 


EDWARD   MARTYN  19 

applied  Ibsen's  method  to  the  portrayal  of  national 
character  and  the  interpretation  of  Irish  life.  Conse- 
quently, his  plays  resemble  those  of  his  master  much 
more  than  does  anything  written  by  the  author  of  the 
Quintessence  of  Ibsenism,  who  has  been  so  instrumental 
in  obscuring  the  true  purpose  of  the  dramatist.  While 
Shaw  has  read  into  Ibsen  a  most  interesting  commen- 
tary upon  contemporary  social  problems,  he  has 
caused  us  to  lose  sight  of  the  original  spirit  in  which 
that  commentary  was  presented.  There  have  been 
innumerable  minor  variations  upon  such  themes  as 
The  Doll's  House,  but  none  of  the  later  English  play- 
wrights has  approached  a  local  theme  in  the  Ibsen 
manner.  In  Martyn  we  get  the  essence  of  Ibsenism, 
rather  than  that  quintessence  extracted  by  Bernard 
Shaw.  He  does  not  concentrate  upon  one  aspect  of 
Ibsen's  genius,  but  envelops  his  subject  in  an  at- 
mosphere which  we  recognize  as  akin  to  that  of  Hedda 
Gabler  or  The  Lady  from  the  Sea. 

A  notable  example  of  this  adaptation"  is  Maeve,  the 
"psychological  drama  in  two  acts",  which  followed 
The  Heather  Field  in  the  published  volume,  as  also 
on  the  stage  of  The  Irish  Literary  Theatre.  Maeve 
O'Heynes,  daughter  of  The  O'Heynes,  hereditary 
Prince  of  Burren,  County  Clare,  is  an  idealist  of  the 
same  visionary  race  as  Carden  Tyrrell.  She  has  sub- 
mitted to  betrothal  with  a  wealthy  Englishman,  Hugh 
Fitz Walter,  from  a  sense  of  duty  to  the  impoverished 
nobility  of  her  father,  who  cannot  occupy  the  rank  to 
which  he  is  entitled  without  the  fortune  which  this 
marriage  will  bring.     From  the  moment  the  curtain 


20      THE    CONTEMPOKARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

is  raised,  Maeve  is  revealed  as  a  dreamy,  high-strung 
girl,  whose  imagination  is  haunted  by  the  fairy  lore 
and  legend  of  the  countryside.  She  moves  on  a  plane 
of  vision  far  above  the  humdrum  world  of  her  impecu- 
nious family,  whose  sole  thought  is  the  marriage  which 
will  restore  their  social  dignity.  Maeve  has  nothing 
in  common  with  her  young  English  suitor,  who  shows 
himself,  indeed,  strangely  tolerant  of  the  indifference, 
amounting  to  aversion,  with  which  she  meets  his 
expressions  of  sentiment.  It  is  understood,  however, 
that  the  girl  is  more  than  usually  sensitive  and  moody, 
and  much  latitude  is  granted  her  in  the  expression  of 
her  temperament. 

The  confidant  of  Maeve 's  dreams  is  the  old  nurse, 
Peg  Inerny,  who  has  all  the  West  Irish  peasant's 
poetic  faith  in  the  existence  of  "the  good  people", 
the  superhuman  beings  of  the  Celtic  land  of  faery. 
Peg  is  convinced  that  the  lore  of  the  peasantry  identi- 
fying her  with  the  Great  Queen  Maeve  of  Gaelic  epic 
history  is  based  upon  the  fact  that  she  undergoes  this 
metamorphosis  at  night  upon  the  mountain  side. 
She  finds  in  Maeve  O'Heynes  one  only  too  ready  to 
follow  her  into  this  existence  of  the  spirit,  for  Peg 
speaks  to  the  visionary  girl  of  things  seen  in  moments 
of  rapture.  Thus,  when  the  old  nurse  invites  her  out 
on  to  the  mountain  to  meet  the  great  figures  of  legend, 
and  the  noble  lover  revealed  in  her  dreams,  Maeve 
forgets  her  wedding  eve  and  accompanies  her.  After 
several  hours  of  trance  on  the  hills,  she  returns  to  the 
old  castle,  her  whole  being  disturbed  by  the  ecstasy 
of  vision.    She  seats  herself  at  the  open  window,  in- 


EDWAED   MARTYN  21 

sensible  of  the  piercing  cold  of  the  night,  and  as  she 
broods,  the  spirit  world  opens  to  her,  and  before  her 
eyes  there  passes  the  procession  of  Queen  Maeve  with 
her  attendants,  as  they  rise  out  of  the  mountain  cairn 
and  come  towards  the  castle.  On  their  return  they 
are  accompanied  by  the  spirit  of  Maeve,  which  passes 
with  the  others  into  the  mysterious  realm  of  Tir-nan- 
ogue.  When  her  sister  comes  to  prepare  her  for  the 
wedding  she  finds  the  bride  sitting  cold  and  lifeless  at 
the  window,  her  soul  having  gone  out  to  meet  that  of 
the  ideal  lover  —  himself  but  a  symbol  of  eternal 
beaut3^ 

Both  W.  B.  Yeats  and  George  Moore  have  seen  in 
Maeve,  to  quote  the  latter,  "the  spirit  and  sense  of  an 
ill-fated  race."  "She  portrays  its  destiny  and  bears 
the  still  unextinguished  light  of  its  heroic  period."  Or 
as  the  editor  of  Beltaine  expressed  it,  the  play  was  a 
symbol  of  "Ireland's  choice  between  English  material- 
ism and  her  own  natural  idealism,  as  well  as  the  choice 
of  every  individual  soul. "  In  a  remarkable  essay  Yeats 
has  discussed  "Maeve  and  Certain  Irish  Beliefs",  in 
which  he  illustrates  the  background  of  experience  from 
which  such  characterizations  as  that  of  Peg  Inerny 
take  their  reality.  Edward  Martyn  did  not  profess 
to  have  drawn  this  character  from  life,  but,  as  Yeats 
shows,  the  peasant  belief  in  women  who  are  queens 
"when  in  faery"  is  widespread.  As  a  footnote  to  the 
folklore  of  the  play  this  essay  from  Beltaine  is  worth 
preserving.  But,  without  any  reference  to  such 
inquiries,  Maeve  is  a  noteworthy  contribution  to  our 
dramatic  literature.    Spectacularly  it  is  most  effective, 


22      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

more  especially  in  the  scene  where  the  vision  of  Queen 
Maeve  comes  to  the  young  girl  in  her  trance,  a  fitting 
climax  to  the  cold,  unearthly  movement  of  the  entire 
play,  whose  atmosphere  is  finely  conceived  and  sus- 
tained. 

In  1902  appeared  a  second  volume  of  plays  contain- 
ing The  Tale  of  a  town  and  TJie  Enchanted  Sea.  The 
former  was  written  for  the  second  season  of  the  Irish 
Literarj^  Theatre,  but  was  not  produced  in  its  pub- 
lished form.  Instead  of  the  latter  was  substituted 
The  Bending  of  the  Bough,  a  rewritten  version  by 
George  Moore  which  appeared  in  book  form  in  1900, 
shortly  after  its  production.  Nothing  in  the  preface 
indicated  that  the  play  was  any  other  but  Moore's 
invention,  and  it  was  not  until  the  following  year  that 
he  explained  how  he  had  revised  The  Tale  of  a  Town: 

"In  my  re-writing  .  .  .  the  two  plays  have  very 
little  in  common  except  the  names  of  the  personages 
and  the  number  of  the  acts.  The  Comedy,  entitled 
The  Bending  of  the  Bough,  was  written  in  two  months, 
and  two  months  are  really  not  suflficient  time  to  write 
a  five  act  comedy  in;  and,  at  INIr.  Martyn's  request, 
my  name  alone  was  put  on  the  title  page." 

Since  these  lines  were  written  in  the  1901  issue  of 
Samhain  (the  successor  of  Beltaine  as  the  organ  of  the 
Dramatic  Movement),  readers  of  Hail  and  Fareioell 
have  been  fully  initiated  into  the  circumstances  of  the 
transfer  of  authorship.  It  says  a  great  deal  for  Edward 
Martyn's  enthusiasm  for  the  Irish  Literary  Theatre 
that  he  should  have  effaced  himself  to  the  extent  of 
handing  over  his  play  to  another. 


EDWARD   MARTYN  23 

It  is  a  little  difficult  nowadays,  when  one  reads  the 
two  versions,  to  understand  why  The  Tale  of  a  Town 
should  have  been  rejected  in  favor  of  The  Bending  of 
the  Bough,  which  has  not  added  anything  to  the  reputa- 
tion of  George  ISIoore.  Both  plays  are  substantially 
the  same,  although  four  out  of  the  five  acts  were 
rewritten  in  The  Bending  of  the  Bough.  The  action 
centers  about  the  struggle  of  Jasper  Dean,  alderman 
of  a  coast  town  in  the  west  of  Ireland,  to  unite  the 
members  of  the  corporation  in  the  defense  of  their 
municipal  rights.  The  towii  is  owed  an  indemnity  by 
the  municipality  of  Anglebury,  an  English  watering 
place,  whose  line  of  steamers  has  secured  the  elimination 
of  competition  by  promising  to  pay  the  Irish  line 
compensation  for  the  latter's  retirement  from  business. 
Various  social  and  political  jealousies  and  influences 
have  prevented  the  aldermen  from  effectively  joining 
to  enforce  their  lawful  demands  upon  the  city  council 
of  Anglebury.  The  author  exposes  in  the  crudest 
and  most  brutal  fashion  the  sordid  intrigues  of  munic- 
ipal politics,  showing  how  the  interests  of  the  public 
are  sacrificed  to  the  play  of  personal  motives.  Jasper 
Dean,  however,  is  a  patriot,  and  a  man  of  caliber  and 
intelligence,  who  eventually  succeeds  in  dominating 
the  situation.  His  obvious  disinterestedness  enables 
him  to  unite  the  whole  council,  with  the  exception  of 
one  opportunist,  and  it  looks  as  if  the  Irish  town  were 
at  last  on  the  point  of  securing  its  rights.  In  the  end 
Dean  is  corrupted  by  the  influence  of  his  intended  wife, 
who  is  the  niece  of  the  mayor  of  Anglebury.  Very 
subtly  she  is  used  to  poison  his  mind  with  the  sophistries 


24      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

which  have  ever  appealed  to  the  anti-patriotism  of  a 
certain  class  of  Irishmen.  The  social  advantages  of  pre- 
ferring England  to  Ireland  are  once  again  demonstrated, 
and  once  again  this  appeal  to  class  prejudice  succeeds. 
The  difference  between  the  two  plays  is  one  of  man- 
ner, not  of  matter,  for  in  both  cases  the  conclusion  is 
the  same.  Moore  had  the  advantage  of  his  craftsman- 
ship as  novelist  to  help  him  over  the  places  where 
Martyn  stumbled,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  his  play  reflects 
adequately  the  disparity  of  literary  stature  between 
the  two  authors.  In  spite  of  that  youthful  effort  in 
tragedy,  Martin  Luther  (1879),  and  notwithstanding 
the  marked  improvement  between  The  Strike  at  Arling- 
'ford  (1893)  and  The  Apostle  (1911),  Esther  Waters 
(1913),  and  Elizabeth  Cooper  (1913),  George  Moore 
does  not  possess  the  gift  of  writing  for  the  stage.  His 
technique  will  not  permit  him  to  secure  in  the  theatre 
those  effects  which  are  so  great  a  charm  of  his  fiction, 
autobiographical  or  otherwise.  Consequently,  while 
he  has  softened  the  harsh  caricature  of  Marty n's 
picture  of  municipal  politics,  and  made  more  universally 
intelligible  the  desertion  of  Jasper  Dean,  he  has  not 
made  The  Bending  of  the  Bough  a  great  play.  In  fact, 
for  all  its  crudity.  The  Tale  of  a  Town  is  more  faithful 
in  its  interpretation  of  Irish  conditions.  So  little  did 
the  latter  concern  Moore  that  he  transported  the 
setting  to  Scotland,  thus  ignoring  the  essential  part  of 
Martyn's  satire.  For  the  fundamental  interest  of  the 
play  as  originally  conceived  is  its  symbolical  inter- 
pretation of  Irish  political  conditions,  to  which  is 
added,  of  course,  the  satire  of  actual  city  politics. 


EDWARD   MARTYN  25 

When  The  Tale  of  a  Town  was  eventually  performed  in 
Dublin,  in  1905,  this  aspect  of  the  play  at  once  caught 
attention  and  made  it  a  success.  The  Bending  of  the 
Bough  might  stand  as  the  type  of  political  comedy  in 
general,  The  Tale  of  a  Town  representing  Irish  political 
comedy  in  particular.  The  precise  significance  of 
Jasper  Dean's  betrayal  is  more  intelligible  to  Ireland 
in  Mart^Ti's  version  than  in  Moore's,  but  in  the  latter 
it  will  be  more  easily  understood  by  a  public  unfamiliar 
with  local  circumstances.  For  this  reason  foreign 
commentators  have  invariably  preferred  The  Bending 
of  the  Bough;  which  is  possibly  a  better  written  play, 
but  is  not,  therefor,  a  better  Irish  play. 

In  The  Enchanted  Sea,  the  author  returned  to  a  theme 
more  akin  to  his  talent  than  political  satire,  which  he 
again  essayed,  however,  in  1902,  when  The  Place 
Hunters  was  published  in  an  Irish  review.  The  Leader. 
This  trifle  is  sufficiently  indicated  by  its  title  and  need 
not  detain  us.  The  Enchanted  Sea,  on  the  other  hand, 
must  be  bracketed  with  Maeve,  as  an  interesting  ap- 
plication of  Ibsen's  method  to  the  material  of  Irish 
life.  More  than  any  other  work  of  Martyn's,  this 
play  bears  the  mark  of  the  Scandinavian  dramatist's 
influence,  being,  in  fact,  an  Irish  counterpart  to  The 
Lady  from  the  Sea.  Guy  Font,  like  Ibsen's  heroine, 
has  been  glamoured  by  the  call  of  the  sea.  Living 
among  the  peasantry  on  the  wild  Atlantic  seaboard  of 
Ireland's  west  coast,  the  boy  had  imbibed  their  legends 
of  the  element  by  which  he  is  fascinated.  His  strange, 
impractical  disposition  makes  him  an  easy  prey  to  the 
designs  of  his  aunt,  Mrs.  Font,  who  has  been  deprived 


26      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

of  her  late  husband's  estates  by  the  death  of  their  son. 
The  Font  property  has  passed  to  her  nephew  Guy, 
to  the  intense  chagrin  of  INIrs.  Font,  who  had  schemed 
and  plotted  during  her  husband's  lifetime  to  advance 
their  welfare  at  the  expense  of  his  honor.  This  erratic 
lad,  heedless  of  everything  but  the  voice  of  the  sea, 
stands  between  her  and  her  purpose  of  possession,  and 
her  one  desire  is  to  remove  him. 

Mrs.  Font,  could  she  encompass  the  death  of  Guy, 
would  be  able,  she  fancies,  to  realize  a  double  purpose. 
Once  she  had  secured  the  estates  they  would  serve  as 
suflficient  dowTy  to  attract  Lord  Mask  into  marrying 
her  daughter,  Agnes.  INIask  is  the  only  friend  of  Guy 
in  all  this  circle  of  commonplace  or  scheming  individ- 
uals, for  despite  the  difference  in  their  ages,  these  two 
are  united  by  the  common  fascination  exercised  upon 
them  by  the  sea  and  its  mystery.  INIrs.  Font  decides 
to  put  this  fascination  to  account  in  so  far  as  it  affects 
the  boy,  by  hearkening  to  that  peasant  instinct  in 
herself  which  hmts  that  Guy  Font  is  one  of  the  sea 
fairies.  She  persuades  him  to  show  her  a  cave  where 
he  is  in  the  habit  of  communing  with  the  spirits  of  the 
sea,  and  they  depart  together.  When  she  returns 
alone,  some  time  later,  suspicion  falls  upon  her,  but 
not  before  she  has  been  disappointed  of  her  last  hope. 
Lord  Mask,  unbalanced  by  the  death  of  his  young 
friend,  seeks  to  find  Guy  in  the  waves,  which  finally 
carry  him  off  to  join  the  young  lad  in  another  world. 
When  the  police  come  to  arrest  ]\Irs.  Font,  they  find 
her  hanging  dead  from  the  staircase  of  Fonthill,  where 
she  has  used  the  child's  swing  to  commit  suicide. 


EDWARD   MARTYN  27 

When  The  Enchanted  Sea  was  performed  at  the 
Ancient  Concert  Rooms,  Dublin,  in  1904, —the  scene 
of  the  inauguration  of  the  Dramatic  Revival,  —  it  was 
received  with  much  attention,  in  spite  of  the  inadequate 
interpretation  it  then  was  given.  As  published,  it  is 
marred  by  clumsiness  of  characterization  which  might 
easily  be  concealed  by  the  performance  of  a  good  com- 
pany. The  characters  are  finely  conceived  and  if 
presented  by  capable  actors  they  would  certainly  lose 
something  of  the  stiffness  which  renders  them  artificial 
or  lifeless  in  the  printed  play.  On  the  whole,  it  must 
be  said  that  Edward  Martyn  has  done  very  well  by  a 
theme  which,  in  the  nature  of  things,  could  be  saved 
from  melodrama  only  by  the  hand  of  a  master  drama- 
tist. 

A  long  interval  separates  these  two  volumes  of  plays 
from  the  next  work  for  the  theatre  which  Edward 
Martyn  was  to  issue  in  book  form.  When  the  three 
experimental  years  of  the  Irish  Literary  Theatre  ex- 
phed,  and  the  partnership  of  Yeats,  Moore,  and  Martyn 
was  dissolved,  the  last-mentioned  writer  found  himself 
isolated  in  a  literary  community  whose  main  interest 
was  in  the  direction  of  folk-drama.  He  had,  therefore, 
but  little  incentive  to  write,  being  dependent  for  the 
performance  of  his  work  upon  amateur  organizations, 
such  as  The  Players  Club,  which  produced  An  En- 
chanted Sea,  and  The  National  Players,  who  were 
responsible  for  The  Tale  of  a  Town.  It  was  not  until 
these  spasmodic  and  unrelated  forces,  working  for  the 
advancement  of  intellectual  drama,  had  crystallized 
into  a  more  permanent  form,  that  Martyn's  creative 


28      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

activities  were  aroused.  During  many  years  he  was  a 
supporter  of  every  kind  of  theatrical  enterprise  which 
promised  to  make  Ireland  acquainted  with  the  better 
class  drama  of  our  time,  an  experience  which  we  could 
not  expect  to  enjoy  at  the  hands  of  our  Anglicized 
theatres  of  commerce.  At  last,  The  Independent 
Theatre  Company  promised  to  become  an  institution  of 
the  kind  associated  with  the  name  of  its  English  proto- 
type  of  twenty  years  ago. 

This  association  undertook  to  produce  literary  plays, 
irrespective  of  the  national  character,  and  one  of  its 
earliest  performances  was  that  of  Edward  Martyn's 
Grangecohnan  in  1912,  Although  it  came  so  long  after 
the  author's  previous  work,  this  play  showed  in  him 
the  same  preoccupation  with  the  psychological  drama 
as  in  the  days  of  Ibsenism.  Rosmersholm  was  suggested 
to  several  critics  by  this  narrative  of  a  daughter's 
jealousy,  when  she  finds  herself  supplanted  in  the  life 
of  her  father  by  the  secretary  whom  he  purposes  to 
marry.  Catharine  Devlin  is  a  typical  product  of  the 
feminist  movement,  as  it  is  revealing  itself  in  the  first 
moments  of  discontent  and  disillusionment.  In  order 
to  escape  the  duties  of  her  home,  she  introduces  Clare 
Farquhar  to  act  in  her  stead  as  amanuensis  to  her 
father,  but  she  returns  to  find  that  he  and  Clare  have 
found  happiness  in  the  reciprocal  help  of  their  relation- 
ship. While  Catharine  and  her  ineffective  husband 
drift  aimlessly  along,  cherishing  barren  ideals,  they 
form  a  striking  contrast  to  the  quiet  industrious  con- 
tentment of  the  home  which  she  once  fled  as  a  burden. 
Having  failed  in  her  career  as  a  doctor,  and  disappointed 


EDWARD    MARTYN  29 

in  her  demands  upon  life,  Catharine  is  stirred,  like 
another  Hedda  Gabler,  by  the  spectacle  of  her  father's 
dependence  on,  and  trust  in,  Clare  Farquhar.  She 
must,  at  all  costs,  destroy  the  happiness  which  she 
herself  has  never  known.  Grangecolman  is  haunted 
by  a  family  ghost,  and  she  conceives  the  idea  of  im- 
personating this  phantom  for  the  purpose  of  frightening 
Michael  Colman  and  Clare.  But  the  latter  is  unim- 
pressed by  the  bogey,  in  spite  of  the  evident  fears  of 
the  other  members  of  the  household,  and  when  the 
white-robed  figure  makes  its  appearance,  a  revolver 
shot  ends  the  fable  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  existence 
of  Catharine  Devlin, 

The  faulty  characterization  and  a  certain  amateurish- 
ness, noticeable  in  the  earlier  plays,  are  almost  wholly 
absent  from  Grangecolman,  which  shows  that  the 
intervening  years  have  left  their  experience  of  the  stage 
upon  Edward  Martyn.  The  mystic,  symbolic  Ibsen- 
ism  of  Maeve  and  The  Heather  Field  has  made  way  for 
a  cold  realism,  which  holds  the  spectator  by  the  inten- 
sity of  its  reflection  of  reality.  The  characteristic 
touch  of  Scandinavian  melodrama  is  not  wanting,  but 
the  author  is  able  to  carry  it  off  as  successfully  as  did 
Ibsen  before  him.  When  one  sees  how  Martyn  has 
triumphed  over  his  natural  tendency  towards  an  over- 
formal  dialogue,  one  cannot  but  regret  that  his  talent 
should  have  lain  almost  quiescent  for  want  of  an  occa- 
sion for  its  exercise.  He  has  had  to  content  himself  with 
amateur  performances,  where  the  defects  inevitable  in 
such  associations  have  done  little  to  render  supple  his 
dramatic  speech.     He  has  never  enjoyed  the  inestimable 


30      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

good  fortune  which  befell  the  successors  of  the  Irish 
Literary  Theatre.  They  found  interpreters  who  were 
not  only  born  to  fit  their  parts,  but  whose  histrionic 
powers  have  saved  from  oblivion  many  a  play  of  no 
greater  intrinsic  merit  than  those  of  Edward  Martyn. 
Early  in  1915,  the  reward  of  many  years  of  waiting 
and  patient  effort  came  to  the  founder  of  the  Irish 
Literary  Theatre,  when  his  original  plan  was  resusci- 
tated, this  time  under  the  title,  "The  Irish  Theatre." 
A  satirical  comedy  by  Edward  Martyn,  The  Dream 
Physician,  and  two  new  works  by  young  Irish  play- 
wrights were  produced,  in  the  course  of  the  first  two 
seasons,  in  addition  to  plays  by  Chekliov.  To  com- 
plete the  illusion  of  former  days,  George  Moore  was 
among  the  spectators  at  one  of  the  'premieres,  a  fact 
which  he  signalled  in  a  letter  to  the  press,  announcing 
the  resumption  of  his  interrupted  relations  with  Edward 
Martyn,  and  repeating  the  original  terms  of  his  drama- 
tic creed.  Clearly  a  case  of  history  repeating  itself. 
Yet,  not  quite,  for  there  is  every  reason  to  suppose 
that  this  renewal  of  effort  will  not  have  the  brief  career 
of  what  was,  after  all,  a  mere  experiment.  There  is 
felt  to  be  an  increasing  need  for  a  theatre  in  Ireland 
which  will  hold  up  to  nature  that  half  of  the  mirror 
which  is  not  visible  in  the  Irish  National  Theatre, 
where  a  too  exclusive  care  for  the  folk  drama  has  re- 
sulted in  giving  a  one-sided  appearance  to  our  dramatic 
activities.  This  is  precisely  the  rock  upon  which  the 
first  movement  split,  as  we  shall  see  in  the  next  chapter. 
Meanwhile,  it  is  satisfactory  to  note  that  the  stand 
taken  by  Edward  Martyn,  nearly  twenty  years  ago, 


EDWARD   MARTYN  31 

has  at  last  been  translated  into  practical  terms,  by  the 
creation  of  a  theatre  to  carry  on  the  work  he  has  dis- 
interestedly served  in  the  face  of  much  discouragement. 
Not  the  least  of  his  disadvantages  has  been  the  phenom- 
enal popularity  of  an  enterprise  representing  the  very 
opposite  tendency  to  that  which  he  championed  from 
the  beginning. 


CHAPTER  III 
The  Beginnings  of  the  Irish  National  Theatre 

In  the  first  number  of  Samhaln  (1901-1908),  which 
was  destined  to  be  the  organ  of  the  Irish  National,  as 
distinct  from  the  Irish  Literary,  Theatre,  W.  B.  Yeats 
wrote  the  epitaph  of  the  initial  experiment.  "  Whether 
the  Irish  Literary  Theatre  has  a  successor  made  on  its 
own  model  or  not,  we  can  claim  that  a  dramatic  move- 
ment, which  will  not  die,  has  been  started."  And  that 
is,  indeed,  the  principal  achievement  of  those  three 
years  which  ended  as  the  w^ords  were  written.  Of  the 
plays  performed,  only  those  of  Edward  Martyn  were 
in  themselves  important,  excepting,  of  course,  The 
Countess  Cathleen,  which  belongs  more  properly  to  the 
second  phase  of  the  Dramatic  Revival.  The  Diarmuid 
and  Grania  of  Moore  and  Yeats  was  not  any  better 
than  so  unusual  a  collaboration  would  lead  one  to 
anticipate,  but  it  shared  the  program  of  the  final 
season  with  Douglas  Hyde's  TJie  Twisting  of  the  Rope, 
whose  performance  was  productive  of  much  good.  In 
the  first  place  it  gave  the  impulse  to  a  whole  school  of 
Gaelic  dramatists,  and  in  the  second,  it  drew  attention 
to  the  superiority  and  desirability   of  Irish  actors, 

32 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  IRISH  NATIONAL  THEATRE      33 

having  been  performed  by  native  players,  unlike  all 
the  other  plays  of  the  Irish  Literary  Theatre,  which 
were  produced  by  English  companies. 

The  actors  in  this  Gaelic  production  were  amateurs, 
trained  by  W.  G.  Fay,  w^ho  had  previously  organized 
the  Ormond  Dramatic  Society.  His  work  with  this 
Society  made  him  realize  the  possibility  that  lay  in 
the  extension  to  Anglo-Irish  plays  of  the  advantages 
of  native  interpretation  enjoyed  by  the  Gaelic,  and 
when  his  brother  Frank  read  the  first  act  of  A.  E.'s 
Deirdre  in  The  All  Ireland  Review,  they  decided  to  make 
this  play  the  starting  point  of  their  experiment.  A.  E. 
completed  his  poetic  drama  of  Irish  legend,  rehearsing 
in  a  small  hall,  in  emulation  of  Antoine  of  the  Theatre 
Libre  and  not  content  with  that,  he  interested  Yeats 
in  the  group.  Soon  the  latter's  Cathleen  ni  Hoidihan 
was  added  to  their  new  repertoire,  and  both  plays  were 
produced  in  April,  1902.  The  following  October,  in 
the  second  issue  of  Samhain,  the  Fays'  Irish  National 
Dramatic  Company  w^as  formally  recognized  as  the 
legitimate  successor  of  the  Irish  Literary  Theatre,  and 
the  second  phase  of  the  Dramatic  Movement  was 
definitely  inaugurated.  As  emphasizing  the  separate 
and  independent  origin  of  the  existing  National  Theatre, 
W.  B.  Yeats's  announcement  in  Samhain  may  be 
quoted :  "  The  Irish  Literary  Theatre  has  given  place 
to  a  company  of  Irish  actors.  Its  Committee  saw  them 
take  up  the  work  all  the  more  gladly  because  it  had  not 
formed  them  or  influenced  them."  And  a  little  further 
on  we  find  him  enthusiastic  in  praise  of  the  acting : 
"  It  was  the  first  performance  I  had  seen,  since  I  under- 


34      THE    CONTEMPOIL\RY  DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

stood  these  things,  in  which  the  actors  kept  still  enough 
to  give  poetical  wTiting  its  full  effect  upon  the  stage. 
I  had  imagined  such  acting,  though  I  had  not  seen  it." 
These  quotations  sufficiently  indicate  to  what  extent 
the  tradition  of  acting  which  gave  its  strength  to  the 
Irish  Players,  and  conferred  distinction  upon  the 
Irish  National  Theatre,  was  due  to  forces  entirely  differ- 
ent from  those  which  lay  behind  the  first  manifestation 
of  the  Dramatic  Revival.  By  the  time  the  latter  was 
nearing  its  close,  there  had  come  into  existence  an 
association  which  corresponded  far  more  closely  to  the 
ideal  which  Yeats  had  in  view.  Once  A.  E.  had  brought 
him  into  contact  with  the  brothers  Fay  and  their  enter- 
prise, there  could  be  no  longer  any  doubt  as  to  which 
branch  of  dramatic  activity  he  would  favor.  INIartyn, 
on  the  other  hand,  did  not  share  his  enthusiasm,  so 
there  could  be  no  question  of  his  following  Yeats.  In 
due  course  Yeats  was  elected  president,  and  A.  E. 
vice  president,  of  the  Irish  National  Dramatic  Society. 
Lady  Gregory  and  others  rallied  to  this  new  association, 
and  it  became  certain  that  the  Irish  Theatre  was 
definitely  committed  to  a  program  somewhat  unlike 
that  conceived  by  Mart\Ti  and  IMoore.  The  former 
did  not  abandon  hope  immediately,  but  proceeded  to 
criticize  his  colleagues  for  their  shortsighted  support 
of  an  undertaking  utterly  different  from  their  own 
Literary  Theatre.  In  reply  to  this  criticism,  and  in 
explanation  of  the  true  intentions  of  the  Movement, 
Yeats  delivered  himself  as  follows : 

Mr.  Martyn  argued  in  The  United  Irishman  some 
months  ago  that  our  actors  should  try  to  train  them- 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  IRISH  NATIONAL  THEATRE      35 

selves  for  the  modern  drama  of  society.  The  acting 
of  plays  of  heroic  life,  or  plays  like  Cathleen  ni  Houlihan, 
with  its  speech  of  the  country  people,  did  not  seem  to 
him  a  preparation.  It  is  not ;  but  that  is  as  it  should 
be.  Our  movement  is  a  return  to  the  people.  .  .  . 
and  the  drama  of  society  would  but  magnify  a  condition 
of  life  which  the  countryman  and  the  artisan  could  but 
copy  to  their  hurt.  The  play  that  is  to  give  them  a 
quite  natural  pleasure  should  either  tell  them  of  their 
own  life,  or  of  that  life  of  poetry  where  every  man  can 
see  his  own  image,  because  there  alone  does  human 
nature  escape  from  arbitrary  conditions.  Plays  about 
drawing-rooms  are  written  for  the  middle  classes  of 
great  cities,  for  the  classes  who  live  in  drawing-rooms, 
but  if  you  would  uplift  the  man  of  the  roads  you  must 
write  about  the  roads,  or  about  the  people  of  romance, 
or  about  great  historical  people. 

This  quotation,  which  amounts  to  a  confession  of 
literary  faith,  appeared  in  the  same  1902  issue  of 
Samhain  that  proclaimed  the  Fays  and  their  company 
the  rightful  successors  of  the  Irish  Literary  Theatre. 
Nothing  could  more  clearly  establish  the  point  at  issue 
between  the  two,  or  more  unequivocally  declare  the 
complete  identity  of  Yeats's  ideals  with  those  of  the 
brothers  Fay,  whom  he  admitted,  as  w^e  have  seen,  to 
have  formed  independently  their  conclusions  as  to  what 
should  constitute  the  work  of  an  Irish  National  Theatre. 
Although  Yeats  himself  has  placed  on  record  the  priority 
of  the  Fays'  claim,  that  fact  is  not  usually  insisted  upon 
in  popular  accounts  of  the  Dramatic  Movement 
in  Ireland.  It  is,  however,  important,  not  only  as  a 
matter  of  historical  justice,  but  also  because  its  avoid- 
ance has  resulted  in  a  tendency  to  overlook  the  presence 


36      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

in  that  movement  of  two  phases,  —  the  one  inter- 
national and  initiated  by  Martyn,  Yeats,  and  Moore 
under  the  force  of  continental  European  example,  the 
other  intensely  national,  and  due  to  the  work  of  two 
men  of  histrionic  genius,  aided  by  a  group  of  young 
poets  and  dramatists. 

This  circle  included  several  names  subsequently  to 
become  well  known  to  lovers  of  Anglo-Irish  literature, 
such  as  Padraic  Colum,  Seumas  O'Sullivan  and  James 
Cousins.  To  these  may  be  added  J.  M.  Synge,  al- 
though he  did  not  come  into  the  movement  until  later, 
in  1903,  when  the  control  of  the  Fays'  enterprise  had 
passed  into  the  hands  of  W.  B.  Yeats  and  Lady  Greg- 
ory. Prior  to  that  event,  the  Irish  National  Dramatic 
Company  had  made  itself  responsible  for  the  production 
of  some  half-dozen  plays,  of  which  the  following  were 
afterwards  published  in  book  form :  Deirdre  by  A.  E., 
Cathleen  ni  Houlihan  by  W.  B.  Yeats,  The  Sleep  of  the 
King  by  James  Cousins,  and  A  Pot  of  Broth  by  W.  B. 
Yeats.  In  the  order  mentioned,  they  occupied  the 
program  of  the  Society  during  its  two  seasons  of 
1902.  In  the  early  part  of  the  following  year  a  pros- 
pectus was  issued  stating  that:  "The  Irish  National 
Theatre  Society  was  formed  to  continue  on  a  more 
permanent  basis  the  work  of  the  Irish  Literary 
Theatre."  In  a  sense  this  statement  is  correct,  inas- 
much as  W.  G.  Fay's  Irish  National  Dramatic  Company 
had  been  recognized  in  Samhain  as  the  successor  of  the 
Literary  Theatre.  But,  as  we  have  seen,  his  Company 
was  already  in  existence,  independently  of  the  under- 
taking of  Martyn  and  Yeats.     It  would,  therefore,  be 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  IRISH  NATIONAL  THEATRE      37 

more  accurate  to  say  that  the  Irish  National  Theatre 
Society  was  formed  to  carry  on  the  work  which  the 
Fays  had  initiated,  as,  indeed,  the  slight  variation  of 
title  itself  implies. 

The  year  1903  saw  the  arrival  of  J.  M.  Synge,  and 
the  active  participation  of  Lady  Gregory  in  the  move- 
ment which  she  had  heretofore  supported  in  a  less 
prominent  fashion.  The  latter's  Twenty-Five  and  the 
former's  In  the  Shadow  of  the  Glen,  together  with  Pad- 
raic  Colum's  Broken  Soil,  introduced  for  the  first  time 
three  dramatists  who  have  since  contributed  to  the 
Irish  Theatre  its  most  characteristic  and  most  remark- 
able work.  As  if  to  emphasize  the  distinction  of  a 
year  marked  by  the  revelation  of  these  talents,  and 
further  enriched  by  the  production  of  two  of  Yeats's 
most  beautiful  plays.  The  Hour  Glass  and  The  King's 
Threshold,  1903  is  also  the  date  of  America's  entrance 
into  the  history  of  the  Theatre.  The  then  recently 
founded  Irish  Literary  Society  of  New  York  produced 
The  Pot  of  Broth  and  Cathleen  ni  Houlihan,  in  addition 
to  Yeats's  Land  of  Heart's  Desire,  which  had  been 
revived  in  this  country  in  1901,  after  its  original  pro- 
duction at  the  Avenue  Theatre,  London,  in  1894,  but 
curiously  enough,  was  not  performed  in  Dublin  until 
ten  years  later.  Finally,  the  year  witnessed  the  first 
tour  abroad  of  the  Irish  Players,  who  went  to  London 
and  performed  five  pieces  from  their  current  repertoire 
to  a  select  but  enthusiastic  audience.  The  result  of 
that  visit  was  to  bring  the  Dramatic  Revival  to  a  turn- 
ing point  in  its  evolution,  with  consequences  whose  end 
is  not  yet  in  sight. 


38      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

An  Englishwoman,  Miss  A.  E.  F.  Horniman,  who 
had  for  many  years  devoted  herself  to  the  support  of 
the  repertory  theatre,  was  so  deeply  impressed  by  the 
qualities  of  the  Irish  Players  and  their  plays,  that  she 
resolved  to  give  substantial  form  to  her  approval. 
Heretofore  they  had  been  obliged  to  perform  in  con- 
cert halls  and  similar  places,  wholly  devoid  of  the 
scenic  and  seating  accommodation  suitable  for  theatri- 
cal performances.  Miss  Horniman  obtained  the  lease 
of  the  Mechanics'  Institute,  Dublin,  a  small  theatre 
which  had  been  given  over  to  vaudeville  of  the  roughest 
kind.  She  enlarged  and  rebuilt  it,  and,  under  the  name 
of  the  Abbey  Theatre,  it  became  the  home  of  the  Irish 
Players,  rent  free,  for  a  period  of  six  years,  from  1904. 
During  that  time  a  small  annual  subsidy  was  also  part 
of  Miss  Horniman's  gift,  but  in  1910  this  was  with- 
drawn, when  the  Abbey  Theatre  was  purchased  from 
her  by  public  subscription. 

The  absence  of  a  subsidy,  and  the  financial  obliga- 
tions involved  in  this  purchase,  were  to  have  their 
effect  upon  the  fortunes  of  the  Irish  Theatre,  but  there 
can  be  little  doubt  as  to  the  value  of  the  services  ren- 
dered by  Miss  Horniman  during  the  Sturm  und  Drang 
period  of  its  existence.  The  economic  independence 
which  made  possible  the  resistance  subsequently 
offered  to  the  exigencies  of  ignorance  was  solely  due 
to  her  magnanimity  in  giving  Ireland  "  the  first  en- 
dowed Theatre  in  any  English-speaking  country",  as 
Yeats  described  it.  It  was  not  until  1907  that  Miss 
Horniman  conferred  a  similar  advantage  upon  her  own 
country  by  establishing  in  Manchester  the  now  famous 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  IRISH  NATIONAL  THEATRE      39 

Gaiety  Theatre,  as  the  iSrst  repertory  theatre  in  Great 
Britain.  This  institution  has  since  enabled  her  to 
give  further  evidence  of  her  interest  in  the  Irish  drama- 
tists by  the  production  of  such  of  their  plays  as  could 
not  obtain  a  hearing  in  Dublin. 

The  Irish  National  Theatre  Society  began  the  year 
1904  in  its  old  makeshift  quarters  where,  nevertheless, 
two  notable  plays  were  produced,  The  Shadowy  Waters 
by  Yeats,  and  Synge's  Riders  to  the  Sea,  before  the 
Abbey  Theatre  was  ready  to  receive  them.  In  Decem- 
ber, however,  the  Players  were  housed  in  their  new 
home,  and  during  the  succeeding  twelve  months  many 
valuable  additions  were  made  to  their  repertoire,  in- 
cluding The  Well  of  the  Saints,  by  J.  M.  Synge,  The 
Land  by  Padraic  Colum,  and  Spreading  the  News,  the 
first  of  those  amusing  farces  which  have  constituted 
Lady  Gregory's  greatest  success  in  the  Theatre.  By 
the  end  of  the  next  year  it  was  evident  that  the  National 
Theatre  had  come  to  stay;  new  plays  and  new  play- 
wrights offered  themselves  in  an  abundance  sufficient 
to  indicate  a  wide  response  to  the  new  stimulus,  and 
there  was  no  doubt  but  that  Miss  Horniman's  experi- 
ment was  in  the  process  of  being  justified.  To  conse- 
crate this  promise  of  success,  and  to  affirm,  as  it  were, 
the  official  and  national  existence  of  the  Dramatic 
Movement,  there  came  the  final  form  of  that  title  whose 
variations, — from  "W.  G.  Fay's  Irish  National 
Dramatic  Company"  to  the  "Irish  National  Theatre 
Society"  —  we  have  noticed.  Henceforward  the  or- 
ganization was  known  as  the  National  Theatre  So- 
ciety.   Thus,    the   Irish   Literary   Theatre   prepared 


40      THE    CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

the  way  for  the  National  Theatre,  which  was  largely 
the  creation  of  W.  G.  Fay.  As  Yeats  wrote  at  the  time 
in  Samhain:  "We  owe  our  National  Theatre  Society 
to  him  and  his  brother,  and  we  have  always  owed  to 
his  playing  our  chief  successes." 

If  it  be  asked  what  was  the  special  contribution  of 
the  Fays  to  the  Theatre,  the  reply  must  be,  the  acting 
of  the  Irish  Players.  Wherever  the  latter  have  ap- 
peared, the  peculiar  quality  of  their  art  has  not  failed 
to  draw  forth  much  comment,  whose  terms  have  be- 
come familiar  through  the  columns  of  a  thousand  news- 
papers and  reviews.  It  will  be  enough  to  recall  here 
in  brief  the  characteristics  of  the  so-called  "Abbey 
Tlieatre  school*'  of  acting,  as  they  have  impressed 
the  majority  of  critics,  bearing  in  mind  that  their 
cultivation  must  be  attributed  to  the  Fays :  to  W.  G. 
Fay,  who  long  served  as  stage  manager,  and  to  Frank 
Fay,  whose  study  of  diction  made  him  the  natural 
teacher  of  his  comrades.  Both  brothers  had  found  in 
French  acting  the  model  which  was  at  once  the  most 
perfect  manifestation  of  the  art,  and  that  most  re- 
moved from  the  histrionic  methods  of  the  English  stage. 
Hence,  no  doubt,  the  surprise,  to  English-speaking 
audiences,  of  the  performances  given  by  the  Irish 
Players,  where  the  unusual  nature  of  the  plays  them- 
selves was  heightened  by  the  un-English  manner  of 
their  interpretation. 

The  acting  of  the  Players  trained  by  Fay  bore  many 
traces  of  the  model  by  which  it  was  inspired,  and  we 
need  not  be  surprised  to  hear  that  Frank  Fay  had 
amassed   a   most   extraordinary   collection   of   books 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  IRISH  NATIONAL  THEATRE      41 

dealing  with  the  art  of  speaking,  mainly  French  works. 
W.  B.  Yeats  at  once  recognized  a  certain  similarity 
between  the  players  of  the  Theatre  Fran9ais  and  those 
of  the  Irish  company,  as  an  early  issue  of  Samhain 
shows.  There  we  find  him  attributing  —  wrongly  as 
it  happened  —  to  the  example  of  de  Max  and  Sarah 
Bernhardt  in  PJiedre,  some  of  the  effects  which  had 
pleased  him  in  Fay's  work.  The  latter  had  not  seen 
the  performance  in  question,  but  he  had  absorbed  at 
the  fountain-head  the  science  and  art  which  had  gone 
to  make  that  performance,  and  thousands  like  it,  a 
charm  for  the  eye  and  ear.  The  stage  grouping  by 
which  the  actors  were  taught  to  efface  themselves,  in 
order  that  attention  should  be  concentrated  upon  the 
speaker,  was  one  of  the  lessons  imparted  by  French 
tradition  to  the  Irish  Players.  From  the  same  teacher 
they  learned  to  dispense  with  those  absurd  movements 
and  gestures  into  which  the  delivery  of  a  sustained 
speech  seems  to  galvanize  popular  English  actors. 
Further,  in  truly  French  fashion,  the  Players  were 
made  to  realize  that  even  the  most  minor  part  is  im- 
portant, and  must  be  interpreted  with  the  same  care 
and  skill  as  the  principal  role.  The  absence  of  the 
"star"  system  facilitated  this,  as  the  same  performer 
would  be  given  parts  of  the  most  varied  importance, 
and  could  count  upon  as  much  appreciation  in  a  sub- 
ordinate as  in  a  more  prominent  role.  Another  conse- 
quence of  this  condition  was  that  the  scene  could  not 
be  given  exclusively  to  a  display  of  one  talent  in  the 
company,  as  is  the  case  when  the  actor-manager 
favorite  performs  for  the  gratification  of  his  admirers. 


42      THE    CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

Many  other  innovations  were  made,  which  have 
since  become  commonplaces  by  reason  of  the  increase 
of  "little  theatres",  where  the  production  of  literary 
drama  has  made  necessary  the  abolition  of  a  system 
incompatible  with  any  art  more  serious  than  that  of 
the  matinee  idol.  The  most  important  factor  in  the 
work  of  the  Irish  Players,  however,  was  elocution,  to 
which  Frank  Fay  brought  the  fruits  of  his  deep  study  of 
the  French  masters,  and  the  practical  demonstration 
of  his  own  beautiful  voice  as  he  had  developed  it.  It 
will  be  remembered  that  what  at  once  captured  Yeats 
in  the  Fays'  company  was  their  power  to  give  full  effect 
to  spoken  verses,  and  he  has  frequently  expressed  his 
personal  debt  to  Frank  Fay  for  the  manner  in  which 
the  latter  has  rendered  the  lines  of  the  poet's  own 
contributions  to  the  repertory  of  the  National  Theatre. 
The  soft  rhythmic  speech  and  delicate  intonation  of 
the  Irish  Players  has  added  immeasurably  to  the  ap- 
peal of  the  Irish  playwrights,  whether  in  prose  or 
verse,  and  has  made  comprehensible  the  profound 
poetry  of  the  -Anglo-Irish  idiom  to  those  unacquainted 
with  the  language  as  spoken.  So  perfectly  did  Fay 
consummate  the  harmony  of  idiom  and  diction  that 
even  Mrs.  Patrick  Campbell  did  not  prove  a  wholly 
successful  interpreter  of  Yeats's  Deirdre,  when  she 
played  the  title  part  in  London.  Miss  Sara  AUgood, 
in  the  subordinate  role  of  the  chief  musician,  attracted 
greater  praise,  thus  procuring  most  striking  and  im- 
partial testimony  to  the  genius  of  the  teacher  by  whose 
methods  she  was  taught. 

By  a  happy  chance  W.  G.  Fay's  talent  lay  in  comedy, 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  lEISH  NATIONAL  THEATRE      43 

while  his  brother's  gift  was  in  the  interpretation  of 
poetic  drama.  While  Frank  Fay  created  the  parts  of 
Forgael  in  The  Shadoivy  Waters,  of  Seanchan  in  The 
King's  Threshold,  of  Naisi  in  Deirdre,  and  of  Cuchu- 
lain  in  Bailees  Strand,  W.  G.  Fay  infused  his  comedic 
spu-it  into  the  central  figures  of  Synge's  comedy,  play- 
ing the  Tramp  in  The  Shadow  of  the  Glen,  Martin  Doul 
in  The  Well  of  the  Saints,  and  Christy  Mahon  in  The 
Playboy  of  the  Western  World.  In  this  way,  Yeats 
and  Synge  were  both  in  the  fortunate  position  of  having 
at  their  disposal  perfect  instruments  for  the  expression 
of  their  respective  geniuses.  In  Miss  Moira  O'Neill, 
Miss  Maire  nic  Shiubhlaigh,  and  Miss  Sara  Allgood,  not 
only  Yeats  and  Synge  in  particular,  but  all  the  Irish 
playwrights  of  the  first  decade  of  the  Dramatic  Re- 
nascence, had  interpreters  whose  skill  in  comedy  was 
equaled  only  by  their  perfect  mastery  of  speech  and 
tragedy. 

In  recent  years  the  tradition  created  by  the  original 
group  has  been  carried  on  by  Messrs.  Sinclair,  Kerrigan, 
O'Donovan,  and  Miss  Eithne  Magee  —  to  mention 
the  more  important  members  of  the  present  Abbey 
Theatre  Company,  who  may  be  regarded  as  pupils 
of  the  brothers  Fay.  Nowadays  the  older  players 
occasionally  perform  at  the  Abbey  Theatre,  but,  in 
the  main,  the  later  dramatists  depend  upon  actors 
whose  accession  to  the  company  has  coincided  with  their 
own  appearance  in  the  list  of  contributors  to  the  reper- 
tory of  the  Theatre.  A  school  of  acting  was  organized 
four  years  ago  in  order  to  train  new  players  in  the 
tradition  created  by  the  Fays,  and  from  this  material 


44      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

there  have  been  drawn  recruits  who  fill  the  gaps  in  the 
ranks  of  the  original  company.  Unfortunately,  the 
spirit  of  that  tradition  has  tended  to  evaporate  as 
those  w^ho  inspired  it  drifted  away,  and  a  stereotyped 
style  has  replaced  the  spontaneity  of  old.  In  conse- 
quence, a  certain  disappointment  has  become  percepti- 
ble in  the  comments  which  have  greeted  recent  perfor- 
mances of  the  reconstructed  company  of  Irish  Players. 
Critics  are  accusing  both  the  actors  and  playwrights 
of  living  upon  the  past  reputation  of  the  National 
Theatre.  When  considering  the  work  of  the  dramatists 
in  detail,  we  shall  have  occasion  to  notice  this  suspicion 
of  deterioration  which  attaches  no  less  to  the  dramatic 
literature  itself,  than  to  the  conditions  of  its  selection 
and  execution. 

For  the  present  it  will  suffice  to  say  that  the  Irish 
Dramatic  Movement  was  turned  into  a  channel  which 
flowed  directly  along  the  lines  of  national  tradition, 
when  its  most  vital  forces  converged  upon  the  point 
of  W.  G.  Fay's  departure.  It  found  through  him  the 
maximum  intensity  of  expression,  in  that  his  art  was 
precisely  such  as  to  stimulate  the  dramatization  of  the 
most  characteristic  elements  of  Irish  life,  and  to  provide 
the  dramatists  with  an  almost  ideal  vehicle  of  artis- 
tic realization.  Poetic  drama  and  folk-drama  found 
equally  their  impulse  and  encouragement  in  the  plans 
and  methods  whose  ultimate  justification  was  the  birth 
of  a  National  Theatre,  unique  in  the  English-speaking 
world.  So  closely  related  are  players  and  playwrights 
that  it  was  frequently  difficult  to  decide  the  just  meas- 
ure of  credit  due  to  each  in  their  common  triumph. 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  lEISH  NATIONAL  THEATRE      45 

The  comparative  failure  of  foreign  actors  in  Irish 
plays  has  already  been  alluded  to,  and  finds  its  counter- 
part in  the  insignificance  of  the  success  obtained  by 
such  of  the  Irish  Players  as  ventured  into  the  English 
theatre  of  commerce.  Before  turning  to  the  work  of 
the  dramatist  whose  literary  ideals  and  practical  ideal- 
ism have  meant  so  much  to  the  Irish  Theatre,  it  is 
interesting  to  place  on  record  his  theory  of  drama.  The 
following  extract  from  an  early  article  by  W.  B.  Yeats 
in  the  1903  issue  of  Samhain  will  show  how  closely  his 
program  coincided  with  the  intention  of  the  Fays, 
and  the  realization  of  their  purpose : 

I  think  the  theatre  must  be  reformed  in  its  plays,  its 
speaking,  its  acting  and  its  scenery.  That  is  to  say, 
I  think  there  is  nothing  good  about  it  at  present. 

First.  We  have  to  write  or  find  plays  that  will 
make  the  theatre  a  place  of  intellectual  excitement  —  a 
place  where  the  mind  goes  to  be  liberated.  ...  If 
we  are  to  do  this  we  must  learn  that  beauty  and  truth 
are  always  justified  of  themselves,  and  that  their 
creation  is  a  greater  service  to  our  country  than  writing 
that  compromises  either  in  the  seeming  service  of  a 
cause.  .  .  . 

Second.  If  we  are  to  restore  words  to  their  sover- 
eignty we  must  make  speech  more  important  than 
gesture  upon  the  stage.  .  .  .  An  actor  should  under- 
stand how  to  so  discriminate  cadence  from  cadence, 
and  to  so  cherish  the  musical  lineaments  of  verse  or 
prose  that  he  delights  the  ear  with  a  continually  varied 
music.  .  .  . 

Third.  We  must  simplify  acting,  especially  in 
poetic  drama,  and  in  prose  drama  that  is  remote  from 
real  life  like  my  Hour-Glass,  we  must  get  rid  of  every- 


46      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

thing  that  is  restless,  everything  that  draws  the  atten- 
tion away  from  the  sound  of  the  voice,  or  from  the  few 
moments  of  intense  expression,  whether  that  expression 
is  through  the  voice  or  through  the  hands.  .  .  . 

Fourth.  Just  as  it  is  necessary  to  simpHfy  gesture 
that  it  may  accompany  speech  without  being  its  rival, 
it  is  necessary  to  simplify  both  the  form  and  color  of 
scenery  and  costume.  As  a  rule  the  background  should 
be  but  a  single  color,  so  that  the  persons  in  the  play, 
wherever  they  stand,  may  harmonize  with  it  and  pre- 
occupy our  attention.  .  .  . 

These  lines  are  as  fittingly  a  summary  of  the  dramatic 
art  of  the  National  Theatre  as  they  are  an  introduction 
to  the  writings  of  the  poet  who  wull  always  be  entitled 
to  the  first  place  in  any  history  of  contemporary  Irish 
drama. 


CHAPTER  IV 
William  Butler  Yeats 

1 

Writing  and  Environment 

It  was  not  only  a  literary  ideal,  but  also  a  literary 
generation,  that  separated  the  first  and  second  phases 
of  the  Dramatic  Revival  in  Ireland.  W.  B.  Yeats  was 
born  in  Dublin  in  1865 ;  he  belonged,  therefore,  to  that 
younger  generation  of  poets  and  prose  writers  Avho  at- 
tained manhood  in  the  early  "eighties",  and  initiated 
the  movement  commonly  known  as  "the  Celtic  Re- 
nascence." He  was  the  first  of  his  contemporaries  to 
obtain  the  recognition  of  a  wide  public,  and  he  has  come 
to  be  regarded  as  the  embodiment  of  all  that  was,  and  is, 
represented  by  the  Irish  Literary  Revival.  George 
Moore  affirmed  in  Vale  that  "all  the  Irish  movement 
rose  out  of  Yeats  and  returns  to  Yeats"  —  a  somewhat 
loose  way  of  indicating  the  predominant  position  of  the 
poet  in  the  history  of  modern  Anglo-Irish  literature. 
A  recent  biographer,  Mr.  Forrest  Reid,  elaborating  the 
generalization  still  further  in  the  direction  of  inaccu- 
racy, actually  concludes  that  "  no  other  writer  of  first- 

47 


48      THE    CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

rate  importance"  has  been  associated  with  the  move- 
ment !  The  names  of  A.  E.,  John  EgUnton,  and  J.  M. 
Synge,  to  mention  only  the  more  important  of  Yeats's 
companions,  are  enough  to  indicate  the  dangers  of  the 
enthusiastic  method  in  literary  criticism.  It  is  true, 
however,  that  earlier  fame  confirmed  Yeats  in  the 
leadership  of  a  movement  which  he  had  from  the 
beginning  consciously  directed.  It  was,  therefore,  a 
natural  outcome  of  that  leadership  that  he  should 
have  associated  himself  with  the  dramatic  ideals  of 
the  new  generation,  rather  than  with  those  of  his  elders. 
Six  of  Yeats's  childhood  years  were  spent  in  London, 
but  at  the  age  of  fifteen  he  returned  to  Dublin,  where 
he  continued  his  education  at  the  Erasmus  Smith  School, 
an  institution  where  he  formed  the  companionships 
which  were  to  play  an  important  part  in  the  preparatory 
period  of  the  Celtic  Revival.  His  fellow  pupils  in- 
cluded several  whose  names  were  afterwards  familiar 
to  lovers  of  Irish  poetry,  —  Charles  Weekes,  John 
Eglinton,  and  Charles  Johnston.  To  these  were 
added  George  W,  Russell  (A.  E.),  who  joined  the  group 
which  fought  the  political  heresy  of  the  time,  namely, 
that  patriotic  verse  was  necessarily  good  poetry. 
Yeats,  in  particular,  urged  the  claims  of  such  poets 
as  James  Clarence  Mangan  and  Samuel  Ferguson,  who 
had  substituted  the  legends  and  lore  of  Ireland's  an- 
tiquity for  the  rhetoric  of  aggressive  nationalism. 
His  success  in  this  respect  was  such  as  to  restore  Irish 
poetry  to  literature,  saving  it  from  the  semi-oblivion 
of  political  versification  and  song.  Yeats  imposed  a 
new  standard  which  was  at  once  literary  and  national, 


WILLIAM   BUTLER   YEATS  49 

and  out  of  its  adoption  there  grew  that  poetic  flowering 
which  constituted  the  chief  distinction  of  the  Celtic 
Renascence. 

In  1889  Yeats  published  The  Wanderings  of  Oisin,  a 
volume  in  which  he  had  collected  the  best  of  his  con- 
tributions to  the  Irish  reviews,  and  whose  unusual  qual- 
ities at  once  attracted  attention,  constituting  it,  as  it 
were,  the  herald  of  the  Literary  Revival.  With  those 
exceptions,  such  of  these  poems  as  had  previously  been 
published  were  reprinted  from  Irish  periodicals,  The 
Dublin  University  Review,  The  Irish  Monthly,  and  The 
Irish  Fireside,  but  the  year  of  their  publication  in  book 
form  marked  the  end  of  his  first  period  of  literary  ac- 
tivity in  Ireland.  During  the  decade  from  1889  to  1899 
the  poet  resided  chiefly  in  London  (with  occasional 
visits  to  Dublin  and  Paris)  and  almost  all  his  work 
appeared  in  English  newspapers  and  reviews.  He 
became  a  member  of  the  Rhymers'  Club,  forming  with 
Lionel  Johnson  and  John  Todhunter  the  Irish  contin- 
gent at  that  gathering  which  was  the  poetic  center  of 
London  during  the  "eighteen-nineties."  These  were 
ten  years  of  intense  experience  and  constant  work, 
during  which  Yeats  steadily  rose  to  the  first  rank 
among  his  English  contemporaries.  In  1892  he  pub- 
lished The  Countess  Cathleen  and  Various  Legends  and 
Lyrics;  in  1893,  The  Celtic  Twilight,  and  in  1894  his  first 
play.  The  Land  of  Heart's  Desire,  was  produced  at  the 
Avenue  Theatre.  The  Secret  Rose  came  in  1897  to 
confirm  the  estimate  of  his  powers  as  a  delicate  prose 
writer,  which  had  been  revealed  in  The  Celtic  Twilight. 
Meanwhile  he  had  been  busy  as  an  editor  and  journal- 


50      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

ist,  editing  various  collections  of  fairy  stories,  com- 
piling that  useful  anthology,  A  Book  of  Irish  Verse 
(1895),  and  collaborating  in  the  sumptuous  three- 
volume  edition  of  Blake,  issued  in  1893  by  Bernard 
Quaritch.  His  own  book  of  collected  Poems  ap- 
peared in  1895,  and  gave  a  complete  survey  of  his  verse 
from  the  beginning,  in  1889.  Four  years  later  a  re- 
vised edition  of  this  volume  indicated  the  spread  of. 
the  author's  fame,  which  reached  a  definite  stage  when 
The  Wind  Among  the  Reeds  (1899)  closed  a  period  in 
the  evolution  of  the  poet's  talent. 

This  work  was  the  culminating  expression  of  a 
gradual  preoccupation  with  the  doctrine  and  specula- 
tions of  mystic  symbolism,  w^hich  had  first  become 
noticeable  in  the  revision  and  rearrangement  of  the 
verses  which  went  to  make  up  the  1895  edition  of 
Poems.  Direct  contact  with  the  English  symbolists, 
and  indirect  association  with  the  occultists  and  mystics 
of  the  French  literature  of  the  period,  had  led  Yeats  to 
elaborate  the  fund  of  natural  mysticism  which  he 
brought  with  him  to  London.  The  simple  mystic  lean- 
ings of  the  Irish  peasantry,  illustrated  in  the  lore  of 
The  Celtic  Tivilight,  had  become  more  conscious  and 
more  intellectual  in  the  abstruse  reveries  of  The 
Secret  Rose,  some  of  whose  personages  are  transferred  as 
w^eighty  symbols  to  The  Wind  Among  the  Reeds.  This 
little  book,  with  its  bulky  glossary,  is  overburdened  by 
a  symbolism  which  essays  to  preach  obscure  doctrines 
whose  clarity  is  by  no  means  heightened  by  those  pages 
of  explanatory  matter.  Further  progress  in  this 
direction  was  clearly  impossible,  for  here  the  poet  had 


WILLIAM   BUTLER   YEATS  51 

reached  the  limit  imposed  by  his  vision.  He  had 
chastened  and  purified  his  verse,  emptying  it  of  all 
rhetoric  only  to  find  that  in  escaping  the  latter  he  had 
become  involved  in  a  process  no  less  reprehensible. 
This  very  economy  of  words  had  given  his  poetry  an 
inhuman  abstractness  which  failed  to  convey  its  in- 
tellectual message.  Withal,  however,  TJie  Wind  Among 
the  Reeds  achieved  success  by  its  subtle  beauty.  It 
was  the  over-refinement  of  Yeats's  art  which  gave  us 
the  quintessence  of  his  poetic  spirit  and  terminated  the 
stage  of  pure  lyricism. 

It  was  a  happy  coincidence  that,  at  the  moment  when 
his  lyric  genius  reached  maturity,  W.  B.  Yeats  should 
have  begun  to  turn  his  thoughts  towards  the  theatre. 
The  Wind  Among  the  Reeds  was  issued  in  1899,  the 
year  which  gave  birth  to  the  Irish  Literary  Theatre. 
From  that  date  up  to  the  present  time  the  energies 
of  Yeats  have  been  absorbed  by  the  task  of  fostering  in 
Ireland  a  national  drama.  He  has  not  published  a 
substantial  volume  of  verse  since,  contenting  himselt 
■with  the  preparation  of  the  Collected  Edition  of  his 
works  in  1908,  and  the  Issue  of  occasional  slender  book- 
lets of  prose  and  poetry,  privately  printed  by  the  hand- 
press  of  his  sisters  at  Dundrum,  Ireland.  Apart  from 
these,  and  the  revision  of  his  earlier  verse  for  new 
editions,  all  Yeats's  original  writings  since  1899  have 
been  destined  for  the  stage  or  have  been  critical  essays 
connected  therewith.  The  effect  of  this  constant  par- 
ticipation in  practical  work  and  the  necessity  of  com- 
plying with  the  exigencies  of  such  an  enterprise  as  the 
Irish  Theatre,  have  not  left  the  poet  untouched. 


52      THE    CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF  IRELAND 

The  later  verse  of  W.  B.  Yeats  shows  him  concerned 
with  contemporary  Irish  Ufe,  and  less  remote  from  the 
passions  and  emotions  of  his  time.     He  is  still  charged 
with  obscurity,  rather  in  obedience  to  an  accepted 
convention  than  because  of  any  actual  return  to  the 
symbolic  elaborations  of  The  Wind  Among  the  Reeds. 
The  allusions  and  references  which  he  introduces  into 
his  impassioned  comments  upon  the  people  and  events 
of  to-day  in  Ireland  are  elusive  only  to  the  most  impa- 
tient reader.     Most  of  his  admirers  cannot  but  be  stirred 
by  these  recent  evidences  of  the  return  of  a  great  poet's 
imagination  to  the  scenes  and  passions  of  his  earliest 
inspirations.     An  examination  of  Yeats's  non-dramatic 
writings  since  1899  will  show  that  the  genius  which  can 
give  us  such  poems  as  are  found  in  The  Green  Helmet 
(1910)  and  Responsibilliies  (1914),  — not  to  mention 
In  the  Seven  Woods  (1903)  which  has  been  reprinted 
in  various  collected  editions,  —  must  still  be  counted 
amongst  the  purest  in  modern  Irish  poetry.     It  is  un- 
just and  unfair  to  accuse  Yeats,  as  so  many  have  done, 
of  impoverishing  our  lyric  treasure  by  devoting  the 
wealth  of  his  mind  to  the  theatre.      His  gifts  to  the 
former  have  been  lavish,  and  are  still  precious,  while 
he  has  enriched  the  latter  in  a  measure  far  beyond  that 
indicated  by  his  own  dramatic  compositions. 

We  have  seen  how  he  turned  to  the  theatre  at  the  end 
of  his  richest  period  of  lyrical  inspiration,  a  fact  which 
would  alone  suffice  to  justify  the  wisdom  of  such  a 
choice.  But  it  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  this  was 
a  sudden  manifestation  of  an  interest  hitherto  unsus- 
pected.   The  earliest  work  of  W.  B.  Yeats  to  be  pub- 


WILLIAM   BUTLER  YEATS  53 

lished  in  book  form  was  Mosada,  a  dramatic  poem,  which 
appeared  in  1886,  and  this  had  been  preceded,  in  the 
pages  of  the  Dublin  University  Review,  by  The  Island 
of  Statues,  "  an  Arcadian  Faery  Tale  "  in  two  acts,  and 
by  The  Seeker,  a  dramatic  poem,  in  two  scenes.  Evi- 
dently as  far  back  as  1885  the  dramatic  form  had  ap- 
pealed to  Yeats,  even  though  he  wrote  with  no  thought 
of  the  stage.  In  1892  his  second  volume  of  collected 
verse  was  published,  with  a  play  for  its  title  piece.  The 
Countess  Cathleen,  which  was  destined  to  be  the  in- 
augural production  of  the  Irish  Literary  Theatre.  Two 
years  later,  and  five  years  before  the  latter  event,  the 
poet  witnessed  the  first  performance  of  his  work  upon 
the  stage,  when  The  Land  of  Heart's  Desire  was  pro- 
duced in  London.  Some  critics  have  taken  this  to  be 
the  starting  point  of  Yeats's  ambition  to  create  an 
Irish  Theatre,  but  the  facts  seem  rather  to  indicate  it 
as  the  crystallization  of  a  tendency  long  present  in  his 
work.  It  certainly  disposes  of  the  theory  that  Yeats 
was  abruptly  torn  from  his  true  vocation  by  the  impetus 
of  the  Dramatic  Movement. 

Strict  regard  for  the  chronological  method  would 
impose  the  necessity  of  examining  at  this  point  the  two 
plays  just  mentioned.  They  belong  to  a  period  anterior 
to  the  existence  of  the  Irish  Theatre,  and  do  not  seem  to 
fall  into  the  same  category  as  their  successors,  which 
were  written  directly  to  meet  the  needs  of  that  institu- 
tion. Yeats  himself  has  given  the  lead  in  this  respect 
to  many  critics,  who  have  classified  his  drama  in  ac- 
cordance with  his  own  selection.  Twice  he  has  divided 
his  dramatic  writings  into  two  parts,  giving  the  collec- 


54     THE    CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

tive  title,  Plays  for  an  Irish  Theatre,  to  the  work  imme- 
diately connected  with  the  Dramatic  Movement  in 
Ireland.  The  first  occasion  was  on  the  publication  of 
a  series  of  five  volumes  —  to  which  Yeats  contributed 
four  and  Synge  one  —  during  the  years  1903  to  1907. 
The  second  was  in  1911,  when  he  issued  a  volume  of 
his  collected  plays  under  that  title,  but  his  later  choice 
did  not  coincide  exactly  with  that  of  the  previous 
collection. 

The  reason  is  not  far  to  seek.  All  his  writing  for 
the  stage  has  been  governed  by  the  presence  of 
the  Abbey  Theatre,  for  which  even  his  earlier  work 
has  been  fundamentally  revised  and  rewritten.  The 
Countess  Cathleen  as  performed  by  the  Irish  Players 
in  the  version  published  in  1912  is  by  no  means  identi- 
cal with  the  title  piece  of  the  1892  volume  of  lyrics; 
even  the  spelling  of  the  name  was  altered  on  its  second 
publication !  It  is  best  to  consider  them  in  groups, 
according  to  the  nature  of  their  inspiration.  For  this 
we  have  the  precedent  of  the  author  when  arranging 
his  Collected  Worhs  in  the  eight-volume  edition  of  1908. 
In  that  well-ordered  presentation,  the  most  satis- 
factory of  the  innumerable  editions  for  which  Yeats 
is  noted,  the  destination  or  purpose  of  the  plays  is  not 
the  basis  of  titular  differentiation.  They  are  grouped 
mainly  by  reference  to  an  approximate  identity  of  mood 
or  theme,  without  regard  for  chronology,  the  legendary 
dramas  being  in  an  earlier  volume  than  the  others, 
although  of  later  conception.  Here,  however,  we  may 
reverse  this  order,  reserving  for  the  end  those  plays 
based  upon  the  legends  of  Celtic  history. 


WILLIAM   BUTLER  YEATS  55 


Miscellaneous  Plays  in  Verse  and  Prose 

The  Countess  Cathleen,  as  originally  conceived,  was  a 
lyrical  drama  whose  poetic  content  far  outweighed  its 
dramatic  significance.  Starting  with  a  popular  folk- 
tale, whose  theme  is  common  to  all  ancient  literatures, 
Yeats  had  less  care  for  its  adaptability  to  the  stage  than 
for  its  potential  beauties,  as  unfolded  by  a  poet  rapidly 
approaching  complete  mastery  of  his  art.  The  story 
relates  how,  at  a  time  of  dire  famine  in  Ireland,  two  evil 
demons  come,  in  the  guise  of  human  beings,  to  tempt 
men  and  women  to  barter  their  souls  for  food.  The 
unholy  traffic  proceeds  until  the  Countess  Cathleen  is 
moved  to  offer  all  her  wealth  in  order  to  save  her  people. 
But  the  demoniacal  powers  have  stolen  her  money  and 
held  back  her  shiploads  of  grain,  for  their  supreme 
ambition  is  to  capture  this  noble  soul.  Their  triumph 
seems  assured,  for  in  desperation  Cathleen  agrees  to 
sell  her  soul  to  the  demons,  on  condition  that  she  thereby 
redeem  the  souls  already  lost  to  them,  and  obtain  the 
means  of  supporting  the  starving  population  until  re- 
lief is  in  sight.  The  bargain  is  made  in  good  faith  by 
the  Countess  Cathleen,  who  dies  of  grief  in  the  realiza- 
tion of  her  sacrifice.  Her  soul,  however,  is  saved,  as 
in  a  final  vision  we  see  her  carried  up  to  heaven : 

The  light  beats  down  :  the  gates  of  pearl  are  wide, 
And  she  is  passing  to  the  floor  of  peace. 
And  Mary  of  the  seven  times  wounded  heart 
Has  kissed  her  lips,  and  the  long  blessed  hair 


56      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

Has  fallen  on  her  face ;  the  Light  of  Lights 
Looks  always  on  the  motive,  not  the  deed, 
The  Shadow  of  Shadows  on  the  deed  alone. 

Yeats  has  given  much  time  and  care  to  the  revision 
of  this  play,  infusing  elements  of  a  more  dramatic  life 
into  it,  but  at  the  expense  of  its  early  poetic  beauty. 
The  subject  is  essentially  alien  to  the  modern  stage, 
however  effective  it  might  have  been  in  the  less  sophis- 
ticated ages  of  allegory  and  morality  plays.  There  is 
something  inherently  incredible  in  the  material  repre- 
sentation of  the  supernatural  protagonists,  who  are 
conceivable  only  to  the  eye  of  imagination.  Li  spite 
of  all  he  has  done  to  make  The  Countess  Caihleen  con- 
vincing in  the  theatre,  Yeats  cannot  progress  beyond 
the  limitations  imposed  by  the  theme  itself,  which  is 
too  tenuous  for  such  exploitation.  Consequently,  his 
only  reward  is  to  find  his  critics  regretting,  at  each  re- 
vision, the  disappearance  of  those  beauties  which  made 
the  original  version  impressive.  The  truth  is,  that 
early  play,  for  all  its  faults  of  inexperience,  had  an 
appeal  which  endures,  so  long  as  one  is  content  to  re- 
gard the  work  as  a  dramatized  poem.  A  sense  of  terror 
pervades  the  scene,  as  in  those  symbolistic  dramas  of 
Maeterlinck,  where  mysterious  forces  manifest  their 
presence  in  the  occurrence  of  simple,  but  significant, 
incidents. 

The  barking  of  a  dog,  a  hen  fluttering  in  fear  of  the 
unseen,  the  sight  of  two  horned  owls  before  the  window, 
—  these  are  the  portents  of  impending  evil,  confirmed 
by  reports  of  strange  phenomena:    "a  woman  met  a 


WILLIAM   BUTLER   YEATS  57 

man  with  ears  spread  out,  and  they  moved  up  and  down 
like  wings  of  bats" ;  a  herdsman  saw  "a  man  who  had 
no  mouth,  nor  ears,  nor  eyes,  his  face  a  wall  of  flesh." 
Finally,  when  the  holy  shrine  falls  from  its  niche,  She- 
mus  cries,  as  he  crushes  it  under  foot : 

The  Mother  of  God  has  dropped  asleep. 

And  all  her  household  things  have  gone  to  wrack. 

A  fitting  moment  for  the  entry  of  the  two  soul  mer- 
chants, who  thereupon  begin  their  work  of  damnation. 
By  a  thousand  little  touches  Yeats  contrives  to  create 
that  atmosphere  of  suggestion  and  anguish  in  which  the 
typical  drama  of  symbolism  evolves.  But  he  does  more ; 
he  transfigures  the  whole  play  by  verbal  felicities  of  the 
purest  poetry :   Cathleen's  dying  words  : 

Bend  down  your  faces,  Oona  and  Aleel : 
I  gaze  upon  them  as  the  swallow  gazes 
Upon  the  nest  under  the  eave,  before 
He  wander  the  loud  waters.  .  .  . 

or  the  famous  song  of  Aleel : 

Impetuous  heart,  be  still,  be  still: 

Your  sorrowful  love  may  never  be  told ; 

Cover  it  up  with  a  lonely  tune. 

He  who  could  bend  all  things  to  His  will 

Has  covered  the  door  of  the  infinite  fold 

With  the  pale  stars  and  the  wandering  moon. 

There  are  so  many  wonderful  lines  in  The  Countess 
Caihleen  that  brief  quotation  is  perhaps  worse  than  use- 
less to  convey  an  adequate  idea  of  this  beautiful  little 


58      THE    CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF  IRELAND 

play,  which  has  so  unfortunately  failed  in  its  attempt 
to  satisfy  two  wholly  dissimilar  audiences.  It  will 
always  receive  impatient  criticism  from  those  who  are 
convinced  a  yriori  that  Yeats  is  not  a  dramatist,  and 
who  dismiss  contemptuously  his  stage  demons  with 
all  the  prhnitive  mystery  to  which  they  are  related. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  will  be  praised  by  admirers  of 
the  lyric  poet,  while  they  bemoan  the  excisions  of  the 
dramatist  engaged  in  making  a  play  out  of  the  material 
of  an  exquisite  poem.  There  remains,  however,  a  third 
class  (in  every  sense  of  the  word)  of  criticism,  which 
may  be  mentioned  as  one  of  those  literary  curiosities, 
to  whose  continued  existence  exasperated  national  sensi- 
tiveness has  proved  most  propitious. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  The  Countess  Catlileen 
was  the  piece  with  which  the  Irish  Literary  Theatre 
began  its  career  in  1899.  The  event  was  marked  by 
one  of  those  demonstrations  of  aesthetic  illiteracy  which 
have  from  time  to  time  conferred  a  certain  notoriety 
upon  works  deserving  of  more  serious  fame.  A  poli- 
tician, a  cardinal,  and  a  newspaper  combined  forces  in 
order  to  stir  up  opposition  to  the  pla}^  on  the  ground 
that  it  was  blasphemous  and  unpatriotic.  The  first 
charge  was  based  upon  the  language  of  the  demons, 
the  second  upon  the  theme  itself.  It  was  argued  that 
no  Irishwoman  would  sell  her  soul  to  the  devil,  and  that 
the  personages  of  the  play,  natural  and  supernatural, 
referred  in  too  irreverent  fashion  to  sacred  subjects,  par- 
ticular offence  being  taken  at  the  incident  of  the  falling 
shrine  already  quoted.  A  number  of  Catholic  students 
were  induced  to  sign  a  protest,  and  the  usual  prepara- 


"WILLIAM   BUTLER   YEATS  59 

tions  for  creating  a  disturbance  in  the  theatre  were 
made,  so  that  the  first  performance  was  attended  by  a 
large  body  of  poHce  to  quell  the  disturbers.  Thus,  the 
Irish  Theatre  was  inaugurated  in  circumstances  which 
were  to  be  repeated  in  its  hour  of  greatest  success,  when 
rioting  greeted  the  production  of  J.  M.  Synge's  The 
Playboy  of  the  Western  World.  It  then  became  evident 
that  the  type  of  critic  who  could  dismiss  The  Countess 
Cathleen  as  "a  ridiculous  and  offensive  absurdity" 
was  not  yet  extinct,  although  happily  he  has  consistently 
failed  to  alter  the  course  of  the  Irish  Literary  Revival. 
If  frequent  production  be  the  test  of  popularity, 
then  The  Land  of  Heart's  Desire  is  Yeats's  most  success- 
ful appeal  to  the  playgoer.  It  was  not  only,  as  has  been 
stated,  the  first  of  his  plays  to  be  performed,  but  was 
also  the  means  of  his  introduction  to  the  American 
stage  in  1901.  Here  again  the  poet  found  his  theme  in 
folklore,  the  motive  being  contained  in  the  introductory 
chapter  to  Yeats's  Fairy  and  Folk  Tales  of  the  Irish 
Peasantry,  where  he  says  :  "  On  Midsummer  Eve,  when 
the  bonfires  are  lighted  on  every  hill  in  honour  of  St. 
John,  the  fairies  are  at  their  gayest,  and  sometimes 
steal  away  beautiful  mortals  to  be  their  brides."  The 
little  drama  takes  place  in  the  kitchen  of  Maurteen 
Bruin  and  his  wife,  Bridget,  whose  son  has  just  brought 
home  his  newly-married  bride.  Shawn's  young  wife, 
Mary,  is  portrayed  as  a  delicate,  fanciful  girl,  whose 
thoughts  are  with  her  book  of  legends,  rather  than  with 
the  housewifely  duties  of  her  new  state.  Bridget  ap- 
peals to  the  priest  to  dissuade  Mary  from  her  reading, 
but  the  latter  is  fascinated  by  the  fairy  tale  of  Princess 


60      THE    CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF  IRELAND 

Edain,  who  heard  a  voice  singing  on  May  Eve,  and 
followed  it  until  she  came  to  the  land : 

Where  nobody  gets  old  and  godly  and  grave, 
Where  nobody  gets  old  and  crafty  and  wise, 
Where  nobody  gets  old  and  bitter  of  tongue. 

The  conversation  then  turns  upon  the  fairies,  and 
Mary  Bruin  is  warned  of  the  dangers  which  beset  her 
this  Midsummer  Eve,  but  she  is  heedless  of  advice,  and 
even  cries  to  the  fairies  to  take  her.  Unwittingly  she 
has  placed  herself  in  their  power  by  giving  fire  and  food 
to  several  mysterious  callers,  whom  the  older  folk  rec- 
ognize as  emissaries  of  "the  good  people."  Eventually 
she  repents  of  her  willfulness,  but  it  is  too  late.  Mary 
is  glamoured  by  the  singing  of  a  little  child  who,  having 
entered  the  kitchen,  is  gradually  revealed,  by  various 
signs,  as  not  of  this  world.  She  cannot,  for  example, 
bear  the  sight  of  a  crucifix  hanging  on  the  wall,  and  not 
until  Father  Hart  has  removed  it  does  she  begin  to  exer- 
cise fully  her  magic  power.  With  dancing  and  song  the 
fairy  child  fascinates  the  soul  of  Mary  Bruin,  while 
the  terror-stricken  peasants  gather  about  the  priest, 
who  is  powerless  in  the  absence  of  the  crucifix.  The 
spirit  of  yet  another  mortal  is  lured  away  to  the  "  land 
of  Heart's  Desire",  and  Shawn  is  left  with  the  lifeless 
body  of  Mary  in  his  arms. 

Out  of  this  perfect  little  folk  tale  Yeats  has  made  a 
symbolical  drama  of  great  beauty  of  language  and 
execution.  Prior  to  its  revision  in  1912,  The  Land  of 
Heart's  Desire  was  a  prolonged  delight  to  the  ear  by 
reason  of  the  continuous  music  of  its  verse,  which  cor- 


WILLIAM   BUTLER  YEATS  61 

responded  so  intimately  to  the  "drama-laden  mood" 
of  the  play.  Something  of  this  quality  has  been  lost 
in  remodelling  the  lines  to  secure  a  greater  degree  of 
dramatic  effectiveness.  But  there  is  still  a  wealth  of 
poetry  to  enhance  the  effect  of  this  fable  which  tells 
of  the  nostalgia  of  a  soul  for  the  Beyond,  once  it  has 
glimpsed  in  vision  the  magic  world  of  the  spirit.  The 
tedium  of  human  life  has  seized  upon  Mary  Bruin,  and 
all  her  thoughts  are  concentrated  upon  the  distant  land 
of  enchantment,  which  is  revealed  to  her,  in  truly  Celtic 
fashion,  by  the  whispering  of  the  wind  through  the  for- 
ests and  the  waters  lapping  on  the  lake  shore.  Yeats 
has  often  sung  of  this,  as  have  many  Irish  poets,  —  Nora 
Hopper  in  her  Fairy  Music,  James  Cousins  in  The  Bell 
Branch,  Thomas  Boyd  in  To  the  Leandn  Sidhe.  The  bur- 
den of  their  song  is  in  the  lines  which  close  the  play : 

The  wind  blows  out  of  the  gates  of  the  day, 

The  wind  blows  over  the  lonely  heart, 

And  the  lonely  of  heart  is  withered  away, 

While  the  fairies  dance  in  a  place  apart, 

Shaking  their  milk-white  feet  in  a  ring. 

Tossing  their  milk-white  arms  in  the  air ; 

For  they  hear  the  wind  laugh  and  murmur  and  sing 

Of  a  land  where  even  the  old  are  fair. 

And  even  the  wise  are  merry  of  tongue ; 

But  I  heard  a  reed  of  Coolaney  say : 

"  When  the  wind  has  laughed  and  murmured  and  sung 

The  lonely  of  heart  must  wither  away." 

The  revised  version  of  The  Land  of  Heart's  Desire, 
as  it  was  revived  at  the  Abbey  Theatre  in  1911,  has 


62      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

been  the  subject  of  some  adverse  criticism,  but  the 
complaints  have  all  had  a  literary  basis.  Indignation 
is  expressed  at  the  manner  in  which  beautiful  passages 
have  been  suppressed,  whereas  there  was  a  time  when 
morality,  not  poetry,  was  the  question  at  issue  between 
Yeats  and  his  critics.  In  1904  a  booklet  by  a  Mr.  F. 
H.  O'Donnell  was  issued,  under  the  title.  The  Stage 
Irishman  of  the  Pseudo-Celtic  Drama,  in  which  the  work 
and  motives  of  W.  B.  Yeats,  Edward  Martyn,  and  their 
colleagues  were  impugned  in  a  manner  only  compa- 
rable to  the  hysterical  manifestations  of  the  anti- 
Synge  campaign.  Indeed,  Mr.  O'Donnell's  effort  would 
not  deserve  exhumation  were  it  not  that  he  represented 
an  attitude  of  mind  with  which  the  Irish  Theatre  had 
to  contend,  and  whose  disappearance  must  largely  be 
attributed  to  the  steadfast  purpose  of  Yeats  and  his 
supporters.  His  pamphlet  may,  therefore,  be  of  some 
pathological  interest  to  the  American  public,  which  has 
to-day  more  frequent  opportunity  than  is  fortunately 
possible  in  Ireland  to  observe  the  same  influences  at 
work. 

Mr.  O'Donnell  devotes  many  pages  to  collecting  and 
elaborating  the  abusive  criticism  which  greeted  The 
Countess  Cathleen,  and  then  turns  his  attention  to  The 
Land  of  Heart's  Desire.  It  is  described  as  "another 
revolting  burlesque  of  Irish  Catholic  religion",  and  is, 
we  are  informed,  even  worse  than  its  predecessor,  being 
"instinct  with  dechristianisation  1"  If  the  specific 
object  of  this  wrath  be  sought,  it  would  appear  to  be  the 
incident  of  the  removal  of  the  crucifix  by  Father  Hart. 
This  "blasphemous  twaddle",  as  the  scene  is  elegantly 


WILLIAM   BUTLER  YEATS  63 

designated,  affected  certain  hyper-sensitive  persons  ex- 
actly as  did  the  faUing  shrine  in  The  Countess  Cafhleen. 
Yet,  as  we  have  seen,  both  were  part  of  a  series  of 
premonitions,  announcing  the  approach  of  some  super- 
natural event,  in  the  manner  now  most  readily  asso- 
ciated with  the  dramas  of  Maeterlinck.  The  author 
of  the  pamphlet,  however,  with  the  characteristic  ob- 
tuseness  of  the  class  whose  spokesman  he  is,  can  see  in 
these  intrinsically  unimportant  incidents  nothing  short 
of  a  deliberate  onslaught  upon  Christian  beliefs.  The 
chauvinists,  moral  and  political,  of  Irish  criticism  have 
never  departed  from  this  line  of  attack,  and  The  Stage 
Irishman  of  the  Pseudo-Celtic  Drama  contains  the  quin- 
tessence of  their  intolerant  spirit.  It  may  be  recom- 
mended to  the  cynical,  for  there  they  will  find,  some 
years  before  the  event,  all  the  stock  "arguments"  with 
which  The  Playboy  of  the  Western  World  was  so  noisily 
belabored  :  the  knowing  references  to  "Baudelairian", 
"decadent  French"  influences,  the  moral  vaporings 
and  the  patriotic  indignation.  It  is  strange  to  reread 
the  phrases  which,  so  freely  applied  to  the  ironic  extrav- 
aganza of  Synge,  had  also  served  to  excite  prejudices 
against  the  two  poetic  fantasies  of  the  genius  most 
remote  from  his.  Yeats  is  fortunate,  indeed,  in  that  his 
recent  critics  have  challenged  his  judgment  upon  points 
which  are  at  least  within  the  scope  of  intelligent  dis- 
cussion. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  most  intensely 
dramatic  play  which  Yeats  has  written  for  the  Irish 
Theatre  should  be  the  little  "  one-acter  ",  Cathleen  ni 
Houlihan.    This  was  the  companion  piece  to  A.  E.'s 


64      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF    IRELAND 

Deirdre,  when  W.  G.  Fay's  company  inaugurated  the  sec- 
ond phase  of  the  Theatre  in  April,  1902,  and  it  is  one  of 
those  rare  cases  in  which  the  author  has  succeeded  in 
pleasing  all  critics,  not  excluding  the  extremists,  to 
whom  reference  has  just  been  made.  A  further  interest 
is  lent  to  the  circumstances  of  this  success  by  reason  of 
its  being  Yeats's  first  prose  play.  It  was  published  in 
the  issue  of  Samhain  for  October,  1902,  and  appeared 
in  book  form  before  the  end  of  that  year.  A  few  months 
later,  in  dedicating  the  series  of  Plays  for  an  Irish 
Theatre  to  Lady  Gregory,  the  author  made  public  some 
facts  concerning  Caihleen  ni  Houlihan  which  serve  to 
explain  the  unique  position  it  holds  in  Yeats's  dramatic 
writings : 

"One  night  I  had  a  dream,  almost  as  distinct  as  a 
vision,  of  a  cottage  where  there  was  well-being  and  fire- 
light and  talk  of  marriage,  and  into  the  midst  of  that 
cottage  there  came  an  old  woman  in  a  long  cloak.  She 
was  Ireland  herself,  that  Cathleen  ni  Houlihan  for 
whom  so  many  songs  have  been  sung,  and  about  whom 
so  many  stories  have  been  told,  and  for  whose  sake  so 
many  have  gone  to  their  death.  I  thought  if  I  could 
write  this  out  as  a  little  play,  I  could  make  others  see 
my  dream  as  I  had  seen  it,  but  I  could  not  get  down  out 
of  that  high  window  of  dramatic  verse." 

We  learn,  then,  that  with  Lady  Gregory's  collabora- 
tion, Yeats  was  able  to  give  his  dream  the  form  he 
desired,  "the  country  speech"  which  he  lacked  being 
supplied  out  of  her  experience  of  the  Gal  way  peasantry. 

The  play  follows  closely  the  vision  of  the  poet,  relat- 
ing how  Peter  and  Bridget  Gillane  have  prepared  for 


WILLIAM   BUTLEE   YEATS  65 

the  wedding  of  their  son,  Michael,  which  is  to  take 
place  on  the  morrow.  A  stranger  enters  the  cottage  in 
the  midst  of  these  preparations,  an  old  woman,  worn 
out  with  much  wandering,  and  craving  hogjiiUility. 
She  has  been  driven  out  on  to  the  roads  of  the  world  by 
"too  man}''  strangers  in  the  house",  and  the  loss  of  her 
"four  beautiful  green  fields",  and  in  crooning  song  she 
tells  of  the  great  events  in  her  history.  Her  story 
exercises  a  strange  fascination  upon  Michael,  who  hears 
of  the  great  men  who  have  died  for  Cathleen,  and  longs 
to  serve  her.    The  old  woman  warns  him  : 

It  is  a  hard  service  they  take  that  help  me,  many 
that  are  red-cheeked  now  will  be  pale-cheeked ;  many 
that  have  been  free  to  walk  the  hills  and  the  bogs  and 
the  rushes,  will  be  sent  to  walk  hard  streets  in  far 
countries;  many  a  good  plan  will  be  broken;  many 
that  have  gathered  money  will  not  stay  to  spend  it; 
many  a  child  will  be  born  and  there  will  be  no  father  at 
its  christening  to  give  it  a  name.  They  that  had  red 
cheeks  will  have  pale  cheeks  for  my  sake ;  and  for  all 
that,  they  will  think  they  are  well  paid. 

Cathleen  goes  out  singing,  and  a  few  moments  later 
the  arrival  of  the  French  ships  in  Killala  Bay  is  an- 
nounced. Michael  Gillane,  forgetting  his  wedding 
and  the  ties  of  friends,  follows  her,  having  resolved  in 
his  turn  to  give  up  all  in  the  service  of  nationality. 
The  spirit  of  Ireland  is  revitalized  by  such  sacrifices 
as  these,  for  as  the  curtain  falls,  we  hear  no  longer  of 
an  old  woman;  Cathleen  ni  Houlihan  has  become  "a 
young  girl"  with  "the  walk  of  a  queen." 

The  poignancy  of  this  little  tragedy  never  fails  to 


66      THE   CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

touch  "an  Irish  audience,  and  the  play  enjoys  the  dis- 
tinction of  being  the  only  work  of  Yeats  which  is  more 
effective  in  the  theatre  than  in  the  printed  book.     Its 
appeal  was  greatly  enhanced,  on  the  occasion  of  the  first 
performance,  by  the  presence  of  INIiss  Maude  Gonne 
in  the  title  part.     Her  personality  lent  a  particular 
significance  to  this  poetization  of  a  political  history  with 
which  she  was  so  intimately  and  passionately  associated. 
Yeats  has  placed  on  record  a  touching  tribute  to  this 
interpretation  of  his  thought:     "Miss  Maude  Gonne 
played  very  finely,  and  her  great  height  made  Cathleen 
seem  a  divine  being  fallen  into  our  mortal  infirmity." 
"  It  was  a  fine  thing,"  he  wrote  in  Samhain  after  the  per- 
formance, "  for  so  beautiful  a  woman  to  consent  to  play 
my  poor  old  Cathleen,  and  she  played  with  nobility  and 
tragic  power."     He  contrasts  her  acting  and  that  of  her 
successors  in  the  role  with  the  unfortunate  innovations 
of  certain  actresses  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.     "The 
part  has  been  twice  played  in  America  by  women  who 
insisted  on  keeping  their  young  faces,  and  one  of  these, 
when  she  came  to  the  door,  dropped  her  cloak,  as  I  have 
been  told,  and  showed  a  white  satin  dress  embroidered 
with  shamrocks!"     For  the  information  of  those  in- 
terested he  adds :    "  The  most  beautiful  woman  of  her 
time,  when  she  played  my  Cathleen,  'made  up'  centuries 
old,  and  never  should  the  part  be  played  but  with  a 
like  sincerity." 

Cathleen  ni  Houlihan,  not  being  a  drama  of  heroic 
legend  like  the  Deirdre  of  A.  E.  which  preceded  it,  was 
therefore  the  earliest  occasion  for  the  display  of  those 
histrionic  qualities  which  the  Fays  were  fostering  and 


WILLIAM   BUTLER  YEATS  67 

developing  in  their  dramatic  company.  Here,  for  the 
first  time,  was  an  opportunity  to  interpret  a  play  in  the 
"folk-manner",  later  so  celebrated  amongst  the 
achievements  of  the  Irish  Players.  Yeats  has  testified 
that  in  the  Countess  Cathleen  the  way  "of  quiet  move- 
ment and  careful  speech,  which  has  given  our  players 
some  little  fame,  first  showed  itself."  And  he  concludes 
his  commentary :  "  I  cannot  imagine  this  play,  or  any 
folk  play  of  our  school,  acted  by  players  with  no  knowl- 
edge of  the  peasant,  and  of  the  awkwardness  and 
stillness  of  bodies  that  have  followed  the  plough,  or 
too  lacking  in  humility  to  copy  these  things  without 
convention  or  caricaturing."  While  the  subsequent 
collaborations  of  W.  B.  Yeats  and  Lady  Gregory  have 
failed  to  please  all  but  a  few  critics,  this  initial  experi- 
ment was  singularly  happy  in  its  results.  If  it  has  not 
proved  so  fortunate  in  its  ultimate  development,  it 
furnished  compensation  by  serving  to  crystallize  the 
tradition  of  acting  which  is  the  invaluable  gift  of  the 
Fays  to  the  Dramatic  Movement  in  Ireland. 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  instance  of  the  collab- 
oration of  Lady  Gregory  and  Yeats,  and  its  result,  is 
furnished  by  Where  there  is  Nothing.  This  work  was 
originally  published  in  1903,  as  the  first  volume  of  Plays 
for  an  Irish  Theatre,  but  curious  to  relate,  it  was  pro- 
duced by  the  London  Stage  Society,  and  has  never  been 
part  of  the  Abbey  Theatre  repertory.  The  play  per- 
formed there  in  1907  was  a  rehandling  of  Yeats's  sub- 
ject by  Lady  Gregory  under  the  title  The  Unicorn  from 
the  Stars.  It  is  this  latter  version  which  Yeats  has 
included  in  his  Collected  Works,  the  original  play  having 


68      THE    CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

been  utterly  discarded  by  him.  In  thus  belying  the 
series  which  it  so  inappropriately  opened,  Where  there 
is  Nothing  naturally  excites  curiosity  as  to  the  reason  of 
its  appearance  and  subsequent  abandonment.  In  his 
preface  to  The  Unicorn  from  the  Stars  in  1908,  the  author 
hinted  at  some  mystery,  when  he  said  that  the  earlier 
play  has  been  written  in  a  fortnight,  in  order  to  "  save 
from  a  plagiarist  a  subject  that  seemed  worth  the 
keeping  till  greater  knowledge  of  the  stage  made  an 
adequate  treatment  possible."  What  was  the  precise 
scope  of  this  allusion  we  do  not  know,  but  the  speed 
and  general  circumstances  of  the  play's  construction 
sufficiently  explain  why  it  does  not  figure  in  later  edi- 
tions of  Yeats's  works. 

Nevertheless,  Where  there  is  Nothing  is  very  far  from 
being  an  inconsiderable  piece  of  hasty  writing,  and  most 
readers  will  regret  that  he  did  not  retain,  and  himself 
revise,  this  analysis  of  the  revolt  of  the  spirit  against 
convention.  Paul  Ruttledge  is  a  wealthy  young  land- 
owner who  abandons  his  money  and  position  to  join  a 
band  of  vagrant  tinkers.  His  delicate  constitution  is 
not  fitted  for  the  life  of  these  hardy  wanderers,  so  he 
falls  ill,  after  many  curious  experiences  and  adven- 
tures. In  the  monastery  where  he  is  nursed,  the  mystic 
qualities  in  his  nature  are  awakened  by  the  presence  of 
religion.  Ruttledge  joins  the  order  in  the  hope  of 
finding  that  Nirvana  where  finite  and  infinite  are 
merged,  and  the  soul  of  man  is  at  peace.  The  brethren 
are  swayed  by  his  transcendental  preaching  and  share 
his  desire  for  that  condition  "  where  there  is  nothing  that 
is  anything  and  nobody  that  is  anybody",  for  ''where 


WILLIAM   BUTLER  YEATS  69 

there  is  nothing,  there  is  God."  The  frenzy  of  his  ex- 
altation is  contagious,  and  he  finishes  by  bringing  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  order  to  a  state  bordering  on  reli- 
gious anarchism.  The  great  sermon  in  which  he 
advocates  a  mystical  iconoclasm,  whose  destructive 
fury  must  not  spare  even  the  church  itself,  proves, 
however,  too  great  a  trial  of  the  Superior's  patience. 
Ruttledge  and  his  disciples  are  ejected  from  the  mon- 
astery, and  finally  fall  victims  to  the  fury  of  the  peas- 
antry, who  cannot  appreciate  these  excesses  of  Chris- 
tian virtue.  But  the  outcasts  were  already  on  the  way 
of  destruction  because  of  their  failure  to  agree  to  the 
intransigeant  teaching  of  their  leader.  Ruttledge's 
mystic  ecstasy  at  the  thought  of  death  was  beyond  the 
imagination  of  his  companions,  who  opposed  his  passive 
resignation  by  attempts  to  compromise  with  reality, 
to  the  extent,  at  least,  of  keeping  life  in  their  bodies 
by  active  work  amongst  the  peasant  population. 

With  the  single  exception  of  his  early  story,  John 
Sherman  (1891),  Yeats's  only  portrayal  of  contemporary 
manners  is  in  the  opening  scenes  of  Where  there  is 
Nothing.  There  is  a  certain  note  of  social  protest  and 
criticism,  such  as  one  finds  in  Wilde  and  Bernard  Shaw, 
in  the  description  of  Paul  Ruttledge's  conventional  sur- 
roundings, his  commentary  thereon,  and  the  motives 
of  his  revolt.  The  first  three  acts  have  a  basis  of  ac- 
tion in  the  affairs  of  everyday  life  which,  apart  from 
their  intrinsic  interest,  add  to  the  thoughtful  fantasy 
of  the  two  remaining  acts,  whose  interest  centers  about 
the  monastery  and  its  scenes  of  spiritual  delirium.  In 
The  Unicorn  from  the  Stars,  this  contrasted  appeal  is 


70      THE    CONTEMPORAKY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

lacking.  The  interest  of  such  a  protagonist  as  Paul 
Ruttledge  lay,  to  a  great  extent,  in  the  circumstance 
of  his  aristocratically  useless  existence  and  his  reactions 
against  it.  Lady  Gregory's  Martin  Hearne,  the  coach- 
builder,  is  a  figure  of  much  less  significance,  and  the 
satire  of  the  earlier  play  finds  no  occasion  for  its  exer- 
cise in  her  presentation  of  the  unaltered  theme. 
Hearne's  frenzy  is  produced  by  a  vision  beheld  while 
he  is  in  a  trance,  induced  by  the  flashing  of  light  on  a 
golden  unicorn  which  he  has  made  to  ornament  a  car- 
riage. He  too  conceives  a  mission  of  destruction  which 
is  carried  out  by  almost  the  same  agencies  as  in  the 
original  story.  Yeats  had  not  only  tacitly  avowed  his 
belief  in  the  superiority  of  the  later  play  by  incorporat- 
ing it  into  his  works,  but  he  has  recorded  his  estimate 
of  Lady  Gregory's  reconstruction  of  the  material  in  the 
following  terms : 

She  has  enabled  me  to  carry  out  an  old  thought 
for  which  my  own  knowledge  is  insufficient,  and  to  com- 
mingle the  ancient  phantasies  of  poetry  with  the  rough, 
vivid,  ever-contemporaneous  tumult  of  the  roadside ; 
to  create  for  a  moment  a  form  that  otherwise  I  could 
but  dream  of  ...  an  art  that  prophesies  though 
with  worn  and  failing  voice  of  the  day  when  Quixote 
and  Sancho  Panza  long  estranged  may  once  again 
go  out  gaily  into  the  bleak  air. 

We  know  that  Where  there  is  Nothing  was  written  with 
the  occasional  help  of  two  collaborators,  of  whom  Lady 
Gregory  was  one,  and  to  that  extent  she  may,  indeed, 
be  responsible,  as  Yeats  says,  for  the  execution  of  his 
plan.     But   since   that   play,   unlike   the   subsequent 


WILLIAM  BUTLER  YEATS  71 

version,  was  issued  in  his  name  only,  we  may  assume  it 
to  have  been  essentially  his  own  conception.  It  would 
seem,  therefore,  more  just  to  apply  the  eulogy  above 
quoted,  to  Where  there  is  Nothing,  for  it  fits  that  play 
a  great  deal  better  than  it  does  The  Unicorn  from  the 
Stars.  There  is  almost  nothing  of  Yeats  in  the  latter, 
whereas  the  former,  for  all  its  hasty  construction,  is 
entirely  worthy  of  the  poet,  whose  own  voice  is  so  often 
heard  in  the  rebellious  utterances  of  Paul  Ruttledge. 
In  the  rewriting,  all  the  elements  of  intellectual  and 
spiritual  revolt,  which  dominated  the  incoherencies  of 
the  original  five  acts  and  made  them  acceptable,  are 
lost  in  the  not  too  well-ordered  logic  of  a  conventional 
three-act  drama.  The  appeal  is  transferred  from  the 
depths  to  the  surface  of  the  spectator's  mind. 

Apparentl}^  with  some  intention  to  duplicate  the 
success  of  the  little  folk  tragedy,  Cathleen  ni  Houlihan, 
Yeats  contributed,  with  Lady  Gregory's  assistance,  a 
folk  comedy  entitled  The  Pot  of  Broth  to  the  second 
season  of  W.  G.  Fay's  Dramatic  Company.  Although 
both  these  plays  were  produced  in  1902,  it  was  not  until 
1904  that  The  Pot  of  Broth  was  published,  when  the 
author  collected  three  one-act  pieces  for  the  second 
volume  of  Plays  for  an  Irish  Theatre.  Like  Where 
there  is  Nothing,  it  was  not  included  in  any  edition  of 
Yeats's  collected  works,  after  its  appearance  in  that 
series,  so  that  critics  have  frequently  referred  to  it  as 
having  been  disowned.  But  that  is  not  strictly  true, 
as  The  Pot  of  Broth  was  republished  in  separate  form 
as  late  as  1911.  However,  this  fact  does  not  imply 
any  superiority  over  the  play  which  has  really  been 


72      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

denied  by  its  author.  The  Pot  of  Broth  is  obviously 
the  work  of  Lady  Gregory  rather  than  of  Yeats,  being 
nothing  more  than  a  trifling  farce  in  the  typical  vein 
of  her  Seven  Short  Plays.  A  loquacious  beggar  suc- 
ceeds in  wheedling  a  credulous  peasant  woman  into 
giving  him  all  the  ingredients  for  the  making  of  broth, 
while  convincing  her  that  the  food  has  been  miraculously 
extracted  from  a  magic  stone  placed  by  him  in  the  pot. 
The  broad  comedy  of  the  dialogue  constitutes  the  play, 
the  forerunner  of  those  numerous  farces  which  the 
talent  of  the  Irish  Players  made  it  possible  for  Lady 
Gregory  to  write.  W.  G.  Fay's  creation  of  the  tramp's 
role  was  largely  responsible  for  a  success  which  has  since 
been  repeated  in  similar  pieces,  thanks  to  a  like  coopera- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  actors. 

Before  we  come  to  the  poetic  plays  of  Irish  legend,  a 
point  of  transition  is  supplied  by  The  Hour  Glass,  a 
morality,  based  upon  a  folk  story  which  had  attracted 
the  attention  of  Yeats  so  far  back  as  1888,  when  he 
compiled  his  Fairy  and  Folk-Tales  of  the  Irish  Peasantry. 
It  was  first  published  and  performed  in  1903,  as  a  prose 
play,  but  in  spite  of  its  having  "converted  a  music- 
hall  singer  and  kept  him  going  to  mass  for  six  weeks  ", 
the  author  was  not  satisfied  until  he  had  rewritten  it 
partly  in  verse.  In  1914,  this  new  version  formed  part 
of  the  volume  Responsibilities,  to  which  a  characteristic 
note  was  added  by  way  of  an  appendix.  Emphasizing 
his  distaste  for  didacticism,  the  poet  described  himself 
as  but  "faintly  pleased"  by  the  conversion  of  the 
vaudeville  artist,  "so  little  responsibility  does  one 
feel  for  that  mythological  world."     On  the  other  hand, 


WILLIAM   BUTLER   YEATS  73 

he  adds,  "  I  was  always  ashamed  when  I  saw  friends  of 
my  own  in  the  theatre."  While  noting  the  repudiation 
of  moral,  in  favor  of  artistic,  purpose,  we  shall  respect 
the  latter  by  considering  The  Hour  Glass  in  its  final,  if 
not  yet  widely  familiar,  form. 

The  characters  are  the  traditional  personifications 
of  the  medieval  morality :  the  Wise  Man,  representing 
science ;  the  Fool,  intuition ;  and  the  Pupils,  the  com- 
mon herd  of  small,  docile  souls  enslaved  to  formulae. 
The  Wise  Man  has  devoted  his  years  of  learning  to  a 
denial  of  the  invisible  world,  but,  in  contradiction  of  his 
reason,  his  spirit  has  passed  on  to  him  premonitions 
of  the  phenomena  he  denies.  When  his  pupils  come 
with  a  passage  for  him  to  elucidate  and  refute,  in  the 
light  of  the  theories  they  have  imbibed,  the  Wise  Man 
is  troubled.  He  has  lost  some  of  that  positive  assurance 
which  gave  weight  to  his  negation  of  the  soul,  and  soon 
his  sensations  of  a  life  beyond  materialize  in  the  shape 
of  an  Angel,  who  warns  him  that  death  wdll  come  when 
the  sands  of  the  hour  glass  have  run  out.  If  he  can 
find  "  but  one  soul  that  still  believes  that  it  shall  never 
cease ",  he  may  find  peace  hereafter.  In  vain  he 
searches  for  some  trace  of  belief  in  those  about  him; 
the  scientific  rationalism  of  the  Wise  Man  has  extir- 
pated faith  in  those  whom  he  implores  to  no  purpose. 
Teigue  the  Fool  alone  has  escaped  the  teaching  whose 
results  are  so  tragically  evident  to  the  mind  of  the 
doomed  man.  The  latter  kneels  at  the  feet  of  Teigue 
and  entreats  him  to  acknowledge  the  beliefs  which  so 
often  transpired  from  his  instinctive  babbling.  The 
Fool  is  intent  upon  more  trivial  things,  and  not  until 


74      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

it  is  too  late  does  he  come,  ready  to  confess  his  faith. 
In  the  last  agonizing  moment,  however,  the  Wise  Man 
recognizes  the  futility  of  his  quest ;  he  realizes  that  the 
better  part  is  submission  to  the  will  of  God,  and  that 
therein  lies  true  wisdom. 

As  now  published.  The  Hour  Glass  is  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  moralities  of  modern  literature,  so  per- 
fectly has  Yeats  sensed  the  spirit  of  that  form.  When 
compared  with  Tlie  Fool  of  the  World,  his  superiority 
over  Arthur  Symons  is  evident ;  when  compared  with 
his  own  earlier  version,  the  beauty  of  the  revised  work 
gains  additional  force.  Not  only  is  the  form  embel- 
Hshed  by  what  he  terms  ''the  elaboration  of  verse", 
but  structurally  the  fable  is  more  convincing.  Origi- 
nally the  Wise  Man  was  saved  by  the  ingenuous  confes- 
sion of  the  Fool,  a  verbal  fidelity  to  the  text  of  the  folk 
story  which  did  not  carry  the  naive  charm  of  the  latter 
into  the  theatre.  Now,  however,  instead  of  that 
"platitude  on  the  stage",  of  which  Yeats  complained, 
he  has  projected  a  more  faithful  image  of  his  own 
thought  into  a  theme  which  still  preserves  the  simple 
dignity  befitting  its  medieval  setting.  Rarely  have  the 
revisions  of  Yeats  been  so  immeasurably  to  the  advan- 
tage of  his  work  as  in  this  carefully  rewoven  fabric  of 
words,  whose  art  is  concealed  by  the  perfect  sim- 
plicity of  their  arrangement.  Only  transposition  and 
analysis  reveal  the  technical  purity  of  a  style  unlike  that 
of  any  other  of  his  plays  in  prose  or  verse.  A  limpid 
clarity  of  vision  is  coupled  with  a  symmetry  of  language, 
which  secures  a  maximum  of  poetic  effect  with  a  mini- 
mum of  specific  verbal  ornamentation. 


WILLIAM   BUTLER  YEATS  75 


Plays  of  Gaelic  Legend  and  History 

Of  the  five  dramas  whose  material  derives  from  the 
legendary  lore  of  Gaelic  Ireland,  The  Shadowy  Waters 
is  not  only  the  earliest,  but  it  was  probably  one  of  the 
first  conceptions  of  the  young  poet.  In  his  recent 
chapter  of  autobiography,  Reveries  over  Childhood  and 
Youth,  Yeats  tells  of  a  boyish  escapade,  undertaken 
"to  find  what  sea  birds  began  to  stir  before  dawn", 
which  bears  testimony  to  the  priority  of  this  play  in 
his  poetic  meditations.  He  says:  "It  was  for  the 
poem  that  became  fifteen  years  afterwards  'The 
Shadowy  Waters'  that  I  wanted  the  birds'  cries,  and 
it  had  been  full  of  observation  had  I  been  able  to  write 
it  when  I  first  planned  it."  Two  versions  were  planned 
and  rejected,  however,  before  Yeats  was  satisfied  to 
make  his  work  public,  and  even  then  he  was  not  con- 
tent until  he  had  completely  transformed  it. 

The  Shadowy  Waters  was  first  published  in  The 
North  American  Review,  in  May,  1900,  and  was  issued 
with  slight  modifications  in  book  form  the  same  year. 
This  beautiful  poem,  obviously  conceived  without 
much  thought  for  the  exigencies  of  dramatic  produc- 
tion, was  performed  by  the  Irish  National  Theatre 
Society  in  1904.  Its  stage  success  was  slight,  although 
its  poetic  qualities  have  preserved  for  it  a  paramount 
place  in  the  affection  of  Yeats's  admirers.  He  him- 
self declared  that  the  1904  performance  of  The  Shadowy 
Waters  was  an  "accident",  due  no  doubt  to  his  absence 


76      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

in  America.  On  his  return  he  proceeded  to  rewrite 
the  play  in  the  form  published  in  190G,  and  subse- 
quently adopted  for  the  Collected  Edition  of  his  works. 
The  second,  like  the  first  published  version,  was  in 
verse,  but  in  spite  of  many  —  too  many,  some  say  — 
concessions  to  the  demands  of  the  theatre,  a  con- 
densed "acting  version"  was  found  necessary.  The 
latter  is  so  evidently  a  makeshift  that  we  may  expect 
the  poet  to  return  to  the  subject.  A  series  of  attempts 
may  yet  indicate  Yeats's  desire  to  endow  the  Irish  stage 
with  a  worthy  interpretation  of  a  thought  upon  v\'hich 
his  imagination  has  brooded  since  bo}'hood. 

Meanwhile  we  must  content  ourselves  with  the  play 
which  has  received  at  least  the  measure  of  approval 
implied  by  its  inclusion  in  the  Collected  Edition  of  1908. 
The  fundamental  idea,  so  perfectly  elaborated  in  the 
original  poem,  is  here  unchanged.  Forgael,  in  quest  of 
his  ideal,  has  sailed  the  shadowy  waters  for  three  moons, 
his  only  guide  the  gray  birds,  voices  of  the  ever-living. 
His  crew  rebel  at  this  prolonged  search  in  waste  seas, 
where  no  chance  of  plunder  falls  to  them,  and  ask 
Aibric  to  be  their  captain,  in  place  of  Forgael,  whom 
they  propose  to  kill.  Aibric's  loyalty  to  his  friend 
forbids  his  joining  in  their  plot,  but  even  his  faith  is 
strained  by  the  apparent  fruitlessness  of  Forgael's 
cruise.  He  confesses  his  doubts  to  the  latter,  who  is 
thereby  afforded  an  opportunity  to  voice  the  idealism 
of  the  poet's  dream.  He  describes  the  impulse  which 
has  led  him  to  seek  the  woman  whose  perfect  love  shall 
bring  them  to  "a  place  in  the  world's  core  where  passion 
grows  to  be  a  changeless  thing."     While  Forgael  ex- 


WILLIAM  BUTLER  YEATS  77 

pounds  his  belief  against  Aibric's  skepticism,  his  desire 
not  to  "  hnger  wretchedly  among  substantial  things  ", 
another  ship  is  sighted.  The  sailors  are  overjoyed  at 
the  prospect  of  booty,  and  soon  the  strange  vessel  and 
its  occupants  are  in  their  power.  Amongst  their 
prisoners  is  Queen  Dectora,  who  demands  satisfaction 
from  those  who  have  just  slain  her  husband. 

Forgael,  whose  thoughts  are  full  of  his  ideal,  is 
disappointed  that  fate  should  thus  bring  him  but  a 
mortal  woman.  His  mysterious  speech  baffles  and  en- 
rages Dectora,  who  calls  upon  the  sailors  to  kill  him, 
offering  an  immediate  return  home  as  their  reward. 
But  all  are  cast  into  spell  by  the  magic  breathings  of 
Forgael's  harp,  and  when  Dectora  comes  to  herself,  she 
is  conscious  of  a  love  for  him  whose  advances  she  repulsed. 
Forgael's  divine  ecstasy,  however,  is  still  incompre- 
hensible to  her,  and  she  now  pleads  that  they  return 
together.  He  cannot  disregard  the  voices  of  his  vision, 
urging  him  onward,  and  is  resolved  to  abandon  Dectora 
to  Aibric,  rather  than  forget  the  pr9mise  of  ideal  happi- 
ness. In  a  flash  the  woman  senses  the  nobility  of  his 
purpose,  and  cutting  the  rope  connecting  the  two 
galleys,  allows  the  others  to  depart. 

Dragon  that  loved  the  world  and  held  us  to  it, 

You  are  broken,  you  are  broken.     The  world  drifts 

away, 
And  I  am  left  alone  with  my  beloved, 
Who  cannot  put  me  from  his  sight  forever. 

Thus  the  two  spirits  are  united  in  the  timeless  region 
of  immortality. 


78      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

For  all  the  changes  The  Shndoicy  JJ'aters  has  under- 
gone, the  drama  is  essentially  symbolical,  and  belongs 
definitely  to  the  period  of  its  first  publication.  What- 
ever that  youthful  poem  may  have  been,  for  which 
Yeats  studied  the  cries  of  the  sea  birds  before  dawn, 
its  ultimate  realization  is  far  removed  from  such  pre- 
cision as  that  study  implied.  The  symbolist  poet  of 
The  Wind  Among  the  Reeds,  the  mystic  dreamer  of  The 
Secret  Rose,  is  the  author  of  this  play,  whose  writing 
coincided  with  those  volumes  of  his  lyric  maturity. 
It  is  informed  by  the  same  mood,  and,  in  the  1900  ver- 
sion, it  was  a  poem  whose  atmosphere  was  preserved 
by  a  perfect  coincidence  of  thought  and  language. 
Hence  the  superiority  of  that  first  edition  over  those 
later  experiments  in  dramatization,  where  effectiveness 
is  so  often  substituted  for  original  beauty. 

While  The  Shadowy  Waters  is  woven  loosely  out  of 
legendary  elements,  Edain,  the  Celtic  Aphrodite,  and 
iEngus,  the  god  of  love,  being  among  the  protagonists, 
it  was  a  play  of  symbolism  rather  than  legend.  It  was 
followed,  on  the  other  hand,  by  a  little  tragedy  taken 
directly  from  classic  Gaelic  literature,  On  Baile's  Strand. 
As  far  back  as  1892  Yeats  had  treated  the  theme  of  this 
play  in  a  poem  entitled  The  Death  of  Cuchidlin,  which 
has  since  been  reprinted  many  times  (with  the  inevi- 
table variations  in  the  spelling  of  Cuchulain's  name !) 
but  with  few  alterations  in  the  text.  Written  in  a 
harmonious  arrangement  of  prose  and  verse,  On  Bailees 
Strand  develops  the  familiar  story  of  the  tragic  duel 
between  Aoife's  son,  Finmol,  and  his  unknown  father, 
Cuchulain.     In  the  early  poem  the  father  learns  the 


WILLIAM   BUTLER   YEATS  79 

identity  of  his  adversary  from  the  lips  of  the  latter  as 
he  falls  mortally  wounded.  A  greater  poignancy  is 
achieved  in  the  play  by  the  introduction  of  the  Blind 
Man  and  the  Fool,  whose  comments,  while  the  struggle 
is  in  progress,  indicate  them  as  possessing  the  knowl- 
edge denied  to  Cuchulain.  These  two  serve  throughout 
in  the  capacity  of  a  Greek  chorus,  and  through  their 
indifferent  chatter  the  father  learns  that  he  has  slain 
his  own  child.  He  rushes  out  to  die  himself,  battling 
with  the  waves,  while  the  unwitting  causes  of  his  fatal 
enlightenment  continue  in  their  preoccupation  with 
trivial  things.  The  tragedy  is  one  to  which  Yeats  has 
given  the  imprint  of  his  own  personality,  not  only  in 
the  lovely  lines  of  his  verse,  but  in  the  characteristic 
role  assigned  to  the  crafty  simpletons  who  are  the 
mouthpieces  of  fate.  Since  its  revision,  after  the 
opening  performance  of  the  Abbey  Theatre,  On  Bailees 
Strand  has  become  one  of  the  author's  most  finished 
contributions  to  that  repertory. 

On  its  publication  in  the  volumes  of  Plays  for  an  Irish 
Theatre  in  1904,  it  was  accompanied  by  The  King's 
Threshold,  which  had  been  produced  in  Dublin  by  the 
brothers  Fay  before  the  Players  had  secured  a  regular 
theatre.  The  plot  is  borrowed  from  a  middle-Irish  story 
of  the  demands  of  the  poets  at  the  court  of  King  Guaire 
of  Gort.  Officials  and  ecclesiastics  have  combined  to 
oust  Seanchan,  the  poet,  from  the  King's  table,  an  af- 
front which  he  resolves  to  avenge  by  starving  on  the 
steps  of  the  palace ;   an  old  custom  has  it 

.     .     .  that  if  a  man 

Be  wronged,  or  think  that  he  is  wronged,  and  starve 


80      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

Upon  another's  threshold  till  he  die, 
The  common  people,  for  all  time  to  come. 
Will  raise  a  heavy  cry  against  that  threshold. 
Even  though  it  be  the  King's. 

The  action,  naturally,  is  constituted  by  the  efforts  of 
various  people  to  dissuade  the  poet  from  his  intention, 
but  all  fail  to  influence  him,  until  finally  the  King  is 
moved  to  make  amends.  He  offers  his  own  crown  to 
Seanchan,  who  receives  it  only  to  return  it  to  him  whose 
kingship  is  demonstrably  dependent  upon  the  good 
will  of  the  poets.  Having  vindicated  his  race,  he  is 
satisfied  to  renounce  the  mere  symbol  of  royalty. 

A  personal  interest  attaches  to  The  King's  Threshold 
by  reason  of  its  having  come  at  a  time  when  hyper- 
sensitive patriotism  was  beginning  its  campaign  against 
Synge,  whose  Shadoiv  of  the  Glen  had  just  excited  the 
indignation  of  the  political  moralists.  As  Synge's 
sponsor,  and  because  of  his  own  offenses,  Yeats's  claims 
on  behalf  of  art  were  being  challenged.  Whether 
intentionally  or  not,  he  here  provided  his  critics  with 
an  answer  which  left  no  doubt  as  to  his  view  of  the  re- 
lation that  should  exist  between  the  poet  and  his  public. 
A  bitter  note  to  a  later  edition  of  the  play  would  seem 
to  imply  a  deliberate  purpose  in  its  production,  "when 
our  Society  was  beginning  its  fight  for  the  recognition 
of  pure  art  in  a  community,  of  which  one  half  is  hired 
in  the  practical  affairs  of  life,  and  the  other  half  in 
politics  and  propagandist  patriotism." 

Almost  every  Irish  poet  has  been  drawn  to  the  classi- 
cal tragedy  of  Celtic  epic  history,  the  love-story  of 
Deirdre  and  Naisi ;    A.  E.  wrote  his  prose  poem  upon 


WILLIAM   BUTLER  YEATS  81 

the  subject  for  the  Fays,  when  they  came  forward  to 
take  the  place  of  the  Irish  Literary  Theatre,  and  four 
years  later,  in  1906,  Yeats's  version  of  the  theme  was 
given  to  the  public,  Frank  Fay  again  playing  the  prin- 
cipal male  part.  A  like  period  was  to  elapse  before  the 
third,  and  perhaps  the  greatest,  of  these  modern  dram- 
atizations was  made,  —  J.  M.  Synge's  posthumous 
Deirdre  of  the  Sorrows.  Unlike  A.  E.  and  Synge,  Yeats 
did  not  include  the  whole  dramatic  story,  which  tells  of 
the  lovers'  flight  to  Alba,  theu'  sojourn,  and  the  series  of 
incidents  which  induced  in  Naisi  the  longing  and  finally 
the  resolve  to  return  home.  He  chose  the  last  act  of 
the  tragedy,  and  made  the  arrival  of  Deirdre  and  Naisi 
at  the  palace  of  Conchubar  his  point  of  departure. 
While  A.  E.'s  play  presupposes  an  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  the  entire  epic  of  the  House  of  Usna,  of  which 
the  Deirdre  story  is  a  part,  Yeats  has  concentrated  the 
tragic  essence  of  the  denouement  into  a  single  act  of 
great  intensity. 

The  scene  opens  with  a  chorus  of  musicians,  and  Fer- 
gus as  interlocutor.  The  latter  has  been  instrumental 
in  bringing  Naisi  and  Deirdre  to  Conchubar,  having 
guaranteed  the  good  intentions  of  the  King,  whose 
revenge  they  suspect  is  lurking  behind  the  invitation. 
The  conversations  of  the  musicians  and  Conchubar 
enable  us  to  learn  the  events  which  have  preceded  the 
home-coming  of  the  lovers,  and  the  rapid  narrative  of 
the  chorus  brings  about  the  mood  of  tension  and  ex- 
pectancy necessary  to  the  understanding  of  the  play. 
We  are  prepared  also,  by  the  forebodings  of  the  chorus, 
for  the  treachery  of  Conchubar,  who  has  made  use  of 


82      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

Fergus's  friendship  for  Naisi  to  lure  the  latter  into  his 
power.  Dark,  sinister  figures  move  furtively  in  the 
background,  the  air  is  filled  with  suspicion  and  hate, 
as  innumerable  insignificant  happenings  take  on  a 
dread  significance  in  the  light  of  what  we  hear  of  Con- 
chubar.  The  doom  of  Naisi  is  being  encompassed,  the 
hired  ruffians  of  the  King  lurk  near  to  do  his  bidding, 
and  only  the  renunciation  of  her  lover  by  Deirdre  can 
save  him.  She  is  willing  to  sacrifice  herself,  but  Naisi 
forbids  her  and  is  murdered  by  Conchubar's  servants. 
Then  Deirdre,  in  a  supreme  moment  of  passion,  feigns 
affection  for  the  old  King,  who  desires  her,  in  order 
that  she  may  be  allowed  to  approach  the  dead  body  of 
Naisi.  She  goes  behind  the  curtain  w^here  he  lies  and 
kills  herself  that  she  may  be  with  him  in  death. 

The  inherent  passion  and  tragedy  in  this  great  "  sor- 
row of  story-telling",  as  the  Gaelic  poets  described  it, 
are  of  themselves  sufficient  to  give  that  grip  and  poign- 
ancy whose  absence  has  been  noted  as  a  defect  of  the 
Ycatsian  drama.  Such  human  qualities  as  Yeats 's 
Deirdre  contains  are  not  of  his  ow^n  contribution  so  much 
as  a  natural  element  in  the  epic  literature  of  Gaelic 
Ireland.  He  resembles  A.  E.  in  his  treatment  of  the 
subject,  in  so  far  as  both  have  conceived  the  protag- 
onists as  figures  of  a  dream  rather  than  of  reality. 
Technically,  however,  this  work  shows  an  advance 
upon  the  earlier  poetic  plays  of  Yeats.  With  a  crisis 
in  the  affairs  of  Deirdre  and  Naisi  as  its  starting  point, 
it  escapes  that  vague  nervelessness  which  renders  so 
much  of  the  poet's  writing  ineffective  on  the  stage. 
Were  it  not  for  the  unusual  possibilities  of  the  theme,  so 


WILLIAM   BUTLER  YEATS  83 

finely  realized  by  Synge,  higher  praise  might  be  given 
to  Yeats's  version.  As  it  is,  the  beauties  of  setting  and 
language  are  such  as  to  place  Deirdre  amongst  the  finest 
of  the  poet's  creations. 

In  1910  Yeats  published  a  rewritten  version  of  The 
Golden  Helmet,  which  had  been  produced  at  the  Abbey 
Theatre,  Dublin,  in  1908.  In  the  revision  the  title  was 
altered,  becoming  The  Green  Helmet,  while  a  very  novel 
experiment  in  the  form  was  the  use  of  ballad  meter, 
instead  of  the  original  prose.  This  "heroic  farce", 
as  the  author  termed  it,  should  serve  as  an  introduction 
to  the  earlier  play.  On  Baile's  Strand.  Its  basis  is  the 
old  story,  kno\\Ti  as  The  Feast  of  Bricriu,  which  Lady 
Gregory  has  included  in  her  Cuchulain  of  Muirthemne. 
The  Red  Man,  a  spirit  from  the  sea,  has  put  the  shame 
of  cowardice  upon  Conall  and  Laegaire,  by  the  exercise 
of  his  supernatural  powers.  The  great  hero  Cuchulain, 
because  of  his  innate  valor  and  traditional  courage,  is 
alone  capable  of  resisting  the  arts  of  the  Red  Man. 
He  thereby  gains  the  golden  helmet  as  his  reward, 
a  gift  which  endows  him  with  that  heroic  supremacy 
whose  manifestations  became  the  material  of  Gaelic 
epic. 

The  ancient  bards  conceived  these  figures  as  divine 
or  semi-divine  beings,  whose  virtue  and  nobility  set 
them  above  humanity.  In  The  Green  Helmet  we  find 
a  modern  poet  attempting,  for  the  first  time,  to  divest 
the  heroes  of  the  bardic  imagination  of  their  superhuman 
attributes.  Humor  is  interjected  into  an  atmosphere 
whose  associations  are  of  a  very  different  character; 
and  gentle  satire  is  the  result, —  for  example,  the 


84      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

jealous  clash  of  ambitions,  when  the  Red  Man  leaves  the 
golden  helmet  that  it  may  be  the  cause  of  dissension 
among  the  warriors.  The  familiar  spirit  of  faction 
which,  as  one  of  our  poets  has  remarked,  makes  every 
Irishman  "a  movement",  is  pleasantly  symbolized  by 
the  quarrel  between  Emer,  Cuchulain's  wife,  Laeg, 
his  charioteer,  and  the  women  folk  of  Conal  and 
Laegaire.  Perhaps  a  less  fortunate  innovation  was 
the  use  of  ballad  meter.  But  as  an  exiDcriment  in 
the  dramatization  of  the  bardic  material,  this  "heroic 
farce"  has  a  value  of  its  o^vn. 

The  announcement  of  a  new  play  by  W.  B.  Yeats, 
The  Player  Queen,  to  be  produced  shortly  in  Dublin, 
reminds  us  that  for  nearly  ten  years  now  his  dramatic 
writing  has  been  in  the  nature  of  the  revision.  He  has 
been  striving  incessantly  to  reconcile  his  art  as  a  poet 
with  the  exigencies  of  the  stage,  and  as  we  have  seen, 
hardly  a  play  of  his  has  been  allowed  to  stand  as  first 
performed  and  published.  There  can  be  no  doubt  of 
his  increased  technical  skill  in  surmounting  the  diffi- 
culties which  stand  in  the  way  of  success  for  such  work 
as  his,  when  transferred  to  the  theatre.  Critics  who  re- 
gret the  absorption  of  the  poet  by  the  dramatist  profess 
to  see  in  every  advantage  of  the  latter  some  loss  to  the 
former.  They  hold,  in  short,  that  the  plays  of  Yeats 
become  dramatically  effective  at  the  expense  of  poetry. 
While  this  may  be  true  in  a  sense,  the  fact  is  of  minor 
importance.  Poetic  drama  must  combine,  as  its  name 
implies,  the  maximum  of  poetical  effect  with  a  maxi- 
mum of  dramatic  significance,  and  the  proportions  of 
both  must  be  balanced.     It  is  useless,  therefore,  to 


WILLIAM   BUTLER   YEATS  85 

complain  that  Yeats  has,  with  increasing  experience, 
been  obliged  to  sacrifice  something  of  his  wealth  of  poetic 
beauty  in  order  to  secure  a  more  dramatic  effect.  His 
early  plays  were  so  richly  endowed  with  the  former  that 
harmony  could  be  obtained  only  by  the  substitution 
of  those  qualities  which  he  lacked.  As  he  revises 
them  they  are  less  beautiful  as  poems,  but  more  remark- 
able as  poetic  dramas. 

The  Irish  Theatre  owes  so  much  to  Yeats  that  we  have 
some  difiiculty  in  assenting  to  the  theory  which  con- 
demns as  fruitless  his  activities  in  that  field.  Not 
that  the  dramatists  of  the  Revival  have  been  his  liter- 
ary disciples,  for  the  fact  is  Yeats  is  an  isolated  figure 
in  the  repertory  of  the  Abbey  Theatre.  While  the 
speaking  of  verse  and  the  plastic  beauty  of  dramatic 
art  have  interested  him  personally,  the  Theatre  has  be- 
come associated  almost  exclusively  with  realistic  folk 
drama,  and  prose  fantasies  in  the  manner  of  Lord 
Dunsany.  Gratitude  for  his  share  in  fostering  the  re- 
vival must,  therefore,  be  explained  on  more  general 
grounds.  His  long  and  conscientious  propaganda  on 
behalf  of  artistic  freedom,  his  complete  devotion  to  the 
cause  of  national  drama,  resulting  in  the  foundation  of 
an  institution  unique  in  the  English-speaking  world  — 
these  are  the  realities  which  must  prevent  his  contem- 
poraries and  successors  from  bewailing  the  potential  loss 
to  poetry  involved  by  the  deflection  of  his  talents.  We 
have  noticed  how  the  publication  of  The  Wind  Among 
the  Reeds,  on  the  eve  of  the  Dramatic  Movement,  marked 
the  limit  of  the  poet's  progress  in  the  direction  he  had 
taken.     For  all  his  preoccupation  with   the  drama, 


86      THE    CONTEMPORAEY  DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

Yeats  has  since  found  time  for  the  expression  of  what- 
ever lyric  emotion  has  come  to  him.  Some  of  his 
finest  verse  will  be  found  in  the  pages  of  those  little 
books  which  have  been  issued  regularly  from  the  Dun 
Emer  and  Cuala  Press  during  recent  years.  Let  us 
not  be  deceived  by  the  too  insistent  regrets  of  those 
who  ignore  these  later  lyrics  in  the  pleasing  contempla- 
tion of  what  might  have  been. 

When  publishing  in  1906  his  first  collection  of  poems 
since  The  Wind  Among  the  Reeds,  Yeats  made  a  con- 
fession of  literary  faith,  which  remains,  after  all,  the 
most  conclusive  commentary  upon  his  work  as  a  dram- 
atist : 

Some  of  my  friends,  and  it  is  always  for  a  few  friends 
one  writes,  do  not  understand  why  I  have  not  been 
content  with  lyric  writing.  But  one  can  only  do  what 
one  wants  to  do,  and  to  me  drama  .  .  .  has  been  the 
search  for  more  of  manful  energy,  more  of  cheerful 
acceptance  of  whatever  arise  out  of  the  logic  of  events, 
and  for  clean  outline,  instead  of  those  outlines  of  lyric 
poetry  that  are  blessed  with  desire  and  vague  regret. 

He  has  here  indicated  not  only  the  limitations  which 
he  felt  had  been  imposed  upon  him  by  the  development 
of  his  lyricism,  but  also  the  intention  of  his  experiments 
in  the  theatre.  If  the  plays  of  W.  B.  Yeats  be  com- 
pared with  those  of  his  contemporaries  in  England, 
France,  Germany,  or  Italy,  it  will  be  found  that  he  has 
earned  his  title  to  rank  with  the  first  of  the  poetic 
dramatists  of  to-day.  The  poetry  of  contemporary 
English  literature  in  this  respect  is  so  lamentable  that 
Ireland  might  well  be  content  if  Yeats  were  the  only 


WILLIAM   BUTLER   YEATS  87 

playwright  of  distinction  associated  with  the  National 
Theatre.  The  fact  that  his  reputation  has  not  been  a 
matter  of  passing  enthusiasm,  as  in  the  case  of  Stephen 
Phillips,  that  his  work  has  found  an  audience  in- 
creasingly capable  of  enjoying  good  drama  in  prose  and 
verse,  may  be  taken  as  doubty  significant.  Not  only 
has  his  personal  contribution  to  the  Theatre  been  val- 
uable, but  his  influence  has  created  conditions  pro- 
pitious to  the  realization  of  his  wider  purpose.  The 
play  that  is  literature  has  found,  not  a  small  coterie 
but  a  public. 


CHAPTER  V 

The  Impulse  to  Folk  Drama  :    J.  M.  Synge  and 
Padiluc  Colum 


Writing  and  Environment 

Whatever  formative  influence  the  work  of  W.  B. 
Yeats  might  have  had  upon  the  younger  dramatists 
of  the  Irish  Theatre,  had  he  continued  to  be  the 
dominating  literar}^  personahty  of  the  movement, 
the  fact  now  remains  that  the  Irish  drama  has  devel- 
oped along  very  different  lines.  Here  and  there,  as 
we  shall  see,  one  finds  a  play,  or  an  isolated  plajy-wright 
like  Lord  Dunsany,  whose  affinity  with  the  poetic 
drama  conceived  by  Yeats  is  undeniable.  But,  in 
the  main,  the  later  dramatists  derive  from  the  tradi- 
tion created  by  J.  M.  Synge  and  Padraic  Colum.  Both 
these  writers  were  introduced  to  the  public  in  1903, 
during  the  first  season  of  the  newly  constituted  Irish 
National  Theatre  Society.  Although  Colum  had  been 
associated  with  the  embryonic  organization  of  the 
brothers  Fay,  from  which  the  Society  sprang,  his  real 
debut  may  be  said  to  have  coincided  with  that  of  J.M. 

88 


THE   IMPULSE   TO   FOLK   DRAMA  89 

Synge.  The  latter,  having  achieved  in  a  few  years 
the  fame  which  comes  to  others  in  a  Hfetime,  occupied 
that  position  of  prominence  in  the  Dramatist  Revival 
for  which  Yeats  seemed  destined.  His  influence, 
therefore,  dominated  the  subsequent  evolution  of  Irish 
drama. 

Folk  realism,  however,  while  producing  dramatic 
literature  of  a  texture  most  unlike  the  poetic  woof  of 
Yeats's  reveries,  must  not  be  regarded  as  a  departure 
from  the  ideals  he  had  enunciated.  The  plays  which 
Yeats  desired  for  the  national  stage  should  tell  the 
people  of  their  own  life,  he  postulated,  "  or  of  that  life 
of  poetry  where  every  man  can  see  his  own  image, 
because  there  alone  does  human  nature  escape  from 
arbitrary  conditions."  These  words,  written  in  antici- 
pation of  actual  events,  were  clearly  an  invitation  to 
the  exponents  of  peasant  drama,  and  Yeats's  champion- 
ship of  Synge  subsequently  demonstrated  how  genuine 
was  his  wish  to  foster  such  art  as  is  here  predicted. 
When  he  wrote  thus  in  1902  he  must  have  been  aware 
of  the  quality  of  Synge's  genius,  which  he  had  but 
recently  discovered,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  he  could  have 
seen  enough  of  the  new  dramatist's  work  to  foretell 
the  destiny  of  the  Irish  Theatre.  Yeats's  plea  may  be 
regarded,  then,  as  a  perfectly  general  statement  of 
a  literary  ideal,  made  without  special  reference  to 
Synge.  It  is  all  the  more  remarkable  that  a  writer 
should  come  into  the  movement  equipped  with  every 
advantage  for  the  task  of  imposing  the  folk  drama  as 
a  powerful  medium  of  national  expression,  and  an 
instrument   of   poetic   and   dramatic   potency.    The 


90      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

classic  genius  of  J.  M.  Synge  conferred  a  prestige  upon 
the  peasant  play  which  seemed  to  justify  the  faith  of 
Yeats  in  the  possibilities  of  a  drama  other  than  that 
conceived  by  Edward  Martyn.  In  another  chapter 
we  shall  have  occasion  to  observe  how  the  latter's 
skepticism  was  also  to  be  justified.  For  the  present 
it  is  enough  to  say  that  the  Irish  National  Theatre 
began  its  official  career  by  making  known  the  two  most 
original  folk  dramatists  of  our  time. 

Innumerable  studies  in  periodical  and  book  form 
have  so  familiarized  the  public  with  the  life  and  works 
of  J.  M.  Synge  that  little  remains  to  be  said.  He  was 
born  near  Dublin  in  1871,  and  studied  at  Dublin 
University,  to  whose  magazine  Kottahos  he  contributed 
his  earliest  literary  effort,  a  sonnet  published  in  1893. 
The  same  year  he  left  college  and  began  those  Wander- 
jakre  in  France,  Germany,  and  Italy  which  terminated 
about  1898,  when  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  W.  B. 
Yeats  in  Paris.  The  latter  at  once  recognized  the  un- 
usual genius  of  the  man,  and  convinced  him  that  he 
was  wasting  his  talents  in  occasional  journalism  and 
hack  work  of  an  unimportant  character.  Synge  was 
writing  a  little  in  French  and  English,  travel  sketches 
and  criticisms  of  French  literature,  but  Yeats  urged 
him  to  return  to  Ireland  and  to  seek  his  material 
in  the  world  of  men,  not  of  books.  He  went  for  six 
weeks  to  the  Aran  Islands,  and  began  to  write  the  book 
which,  although  it  preceded  his  plays,  was  not  published 
until  1907,  after  much  difficulty  in  finding  a  publisher. 
This  volume,  The  Aran  Islands,  was  the  fruit  of  many 
prolonged   sojourns    among   the   islanders,   and   is  a 


THE  IMPULSE  TO  FOLK  DRAMA       91 

document  of  great  value  to  all  students  of  Synge's 
work. 

Once  he  had  sensed  the  potentialities  of  his  own 
country,  Synge's  visits  to  the  continent  of  Europe 
became  fewer.  His  years  of  vagabondage  had  given 
him  just  the  preliminary  training  necessary  to  realize 
the  opportunities  offered  by  the  study  of  elemental 
human  activities  in  the  last  stronghold  of  our  primitive 
national  life.  In  the  mountains  of  Wicklow  and  on 
those  Western  islands,  Synge  found  the  material  of 
his  art.  His  sympathies  heightened  by  contact  with 
the  most  varied  phases  of  continental  existence,  his 
ears  sharpened  by  attention  to  the  shades  and  sounds 
of  several  European  languages,  he  was  particularly 
fitted  to  note  the  manifestations  of  peasant  life  in  the 
idiom  of  the  people.  Unlike  so  many  of  his  Irish  con- 
temporaries, he  brought  to  the  study  of  local  conditions 
a  mind  well  stored  with  foreign  impressions,  familiar 
with  European  culture,  j^et  fundamentally  colored  by 
national  traditions  which  his  knowledge  of  Gaelic  had 
preserved  intact.  Encouraged  by  Yeats,  intensely 
moved  by  the  spectacle  of  a  primitive  civilization  un- 
spoiled by  industrialism,  Synge  consecrated  his  brief 
career  to  peasant  Ireland.  In  The  Aran  Islands,  the 
first  of  his  notebooks,  and  in  the  posthumous  volume. 
In  Wicklow,  West  Kerry  and  Connemara  (1910),  will  be 
found  the  rich  store  of  observation  and  humanity 
which  his  years  in  Ireland  brought  to  him.  Out  of 
this  material  were  extracted  the  plays  which  have 
now  made  his  name  famous  in  several  continents. 

There  is  little  of  importance  in  the  life  of  Synge  to 


92        THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

be  related  in  connection  with  his  work  for  the  Irish 
Theatre.  He  was,  as  all  who  knew  him  have  re- 
corded, "a  drifting,  silent  man",  averse  to  discussion, 
aloof  from  the  controversies  and  activities  of  literature 
in  the  making.  It  was  an  irony  of  fate  that  he  pre- 
cisely should  become  the  center  of  the  most  violent 
altercations  in  the  field  of  politics  and  morality,  and 
finally  be  the  rallying  point  for  impassioned  laudation 
and  depreciation  of  a  literary  genre.  Biographically 
the  most  remarkable  feature  of  Synge's  career  was  its 
brevity.  In  the  six  years  which  elapsed  between  1903, 
when  In  the  Shadow  of  the  Glen  was  produced,  to  1909, 
when  he  died,  he  rose  from  absolute  obscurity  to  world 
fame,  and  provided  us  with  the  six  plays  upon  which 
his  reputation  must  rest.  His  posthumously  published 
Poems  and  Traiislations  (1909)  are  of  interest,  like 
his  notebooks,  because  of  the  insight  they  afford  into 
the  application  of  his  theories.  Just  as  one  may  study 
his  sketches  of  life  in  the  west  of  Ireland  for  the  genesis 
of  his  dramatic  art,  so  one  reads  his  versions  of  Villon 
and  Petrarch  for  their  revelation  of  the  poetic  qualities 
of  Anglo-Irish  idiom.  Neither  would  in  themselves 
constitute  a  claim  to  public  attention  comparable  to 
that  rightly  accorded  to  his  dramatic  writings. 

2 

The  Plays  of  J.  M.  Sijnge 

In  justice  to  the  enemies  of  Synge  it  must  be  said 
that  from  the  beginning  they  left  him  under  no  illusions 
as  to  the  fate  his  plays  would  experience  at  their  hands. 


THE  IMPULSE  TO  FOLK  DKAMA       93 

In  the  Shadow  of  the  Glen,  which  marked  his  entrance 
upon  the  stage  of  the  National  Theatre  in  1903,  was 
greeted  at  once  in  the  fashion  which  afterwards  devel- 
oped into  the  "Playboy  riots."  Although  but  a 
variation  upon  a  legend  familiar  to  all  folklore,  this 
little  one-act  play  was  repudiated  by  the  moral  patriots 
as  a  hideous  slander  upon  Irish  womanhood.  The 
fable  tells  how  an  old  farmer,  Dan  Burke,  feigns  death 
in  order  to  test  the  fidelity  of  his  young  wife,  Nora. 
As  he  lies  stretched  on  his  deathbed,  he  overhears  the 
conversation  of  Nora  and  a  tramp  whom  she  has  ad- 
mitted, his  suspicions  are  aroused,  and  when  his  wife 
goes  out  to  bring  in  a  neighbor  in  order  to  arrange  for 
the  burial,  he  jumps  up,  to  the  intense  horror  and  fear 
of  the  tramp.  Fortified  with  a  drink  of  whisky,  — 
and  his  stick,  —  Dan  resumes  his  position  in  the  bed 
and  awaits  the  confirmation  of  his  suspicions.  Nora 
returns  with  her  friend,  Michael  Dara,  and  over  a  cup 
of  tea  the  pair  discuss  their  marriage  plans,  and  make 
the  most  uncomplimentary  allusions  to  the  supposedly 
dead  husband.  Dan's  emotions  are  too  strong  for 
him,  so,  with  a  violent  sneeze,  he  awakes  from  the  dead, 
and  drives  his  wife  from  the  house,  threatening  both 
her  and  Michael  with  his  stick.  The  latter  is  a  coward, 
whose  sole  thought  is  to  protect  himself,  his  interest  in 
Nora  having  evaporated  once  it  was  evident  she  would 
bring  him  no  money.  The  tramp,  however,  willingly 
accompanies  Nora  in  her  quest  for  the  liberty  of  the 
roads  which  he  knows  and  loves  so  well.  As  they  go 
out  of  the  house,  the  curtain  falls  on  Dan  and  Michael 
in  complete  harmony  over  a  glass  of  whisky. 


94         THE   CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

The  play  is  a  typically  Syngesque  combination  of 
realism  and  symbolism.  The  legendary  character  of 
the  plot  is  obvious,  but  the  specific  occasion  of  Synge's 
inspiration  was  undoubtedly  a  story  told  to  him  by 
Pat  Dirane  and  recounted  in  The  Aran  Islands,  though 
curiously  enough,  Pat's  denouement  of  murder  and  adul- 
tery is  even  more  unfavorable  to  the  illusions  of  Synge's 
critics.  Similarly  one  may  read  into  the  play  a  criti- 
cism of  the  dowry  system  of  loveless  marriages,  shared 
by  Ireland  with  all  peasant  communities.  Yet  Nora 
is  a  figure  transcending  all  such  realistic  interpretation. 
She  is  a  symbol  of  a  vigorous  young  woman  mated, 
for  reasons  of  property,  with  an  old  man,  "wheezing, 
the  like  of  a  sick  sheep."  As  she  sees  her  lonely  life 
passing  away  from  her  in  the  solitude  of  the  isolated 
valley,  lost  in  the  mists  from  the  hills,  she  is  impelled 
to  seek  freedom  and  adventure.  She  escapes  from  the 
desolation  of  "  hearing  nothing  but  the  wind  crying  out 
in  the  bits  of  broken  trees  left  from  the  great  storm, 
and  the  streams  roaring  with  the  rain." 

Synge's  next  work  was  of  very  dissimilar  character, 
although  written  about  the  same  time  as  In  the  Shadoio 
of  the  Glen.  Unlike  any  other  of  his  plays,  except 
Deirdre,  the  poignant  little  tragedy.  Riders  to  the  Sea, 
met  with  the  approval  of  all  his  critics.  At  least, 
none  but  a  few  minor  technical  objections  have  been 
raised  against  it.  It  was  produced  in  1904,  and  the 
following  year  the  two  one-act  plays  were  issued  in 
book  form,  the  author's  first  contribution  to  permanent 
literature.  Riders  to  the  Sea,  like  its  predecessor,  jhadL 
its  roots  in  certain  experiences  recorded  in  The  Aran 


THE   IMPULSE   TO   FOLK   DRAMA  95 

Islands,  but  not  in  a;;y  specific  incident  reported  by  the 
autEbi\  It  might  be  said  to  concentrate  within  a 
small  space  the  essential  spirit  of  that  work,  which  is, 
at  bottom,  a  narrative  of  the  constant  struggle  of  the 
islanders  against  their  relentless  enemy,  the  sea.  The 
womanhood  of  the  Islands  speaks  through  the  tragic 
figure  of  old  INIaurya,  who  has  lost  her  husband  and 
four  sons  by  drowning.  When  the  scene  opens  she 
is  waiting  for  news  of  her  fifth  son,  Michael,  who  is 
missing,  and  whose  fate  is  revealed  by  a  young  priest 
who  brings  portions  of  clothing,  found  on  a  drowned 
man,  for  Maurya's  daughters  to  identify.  They 
recognize  their  brother's  clothes  and  conceal  them 
from  the  mother,  but  try  to  prevent  the  last  son,  Bart- 
ley,  from  setting  out  in  the  storm  to  make  the  dangerous 
crossing  to  the  mainland.  Bartley  refuses  to  be  dis- 
suaded, and  rides  off  on  his  horse  to  the  sea,  without  a 
fear  for  his  fate.  The  inevitability  of  Greek  tragedy 
weighs  upon  the  scene,  and  numerous  apparently  trifling 
incidents  emphasize  the  approaching  doom  of  the  son, 
whose  mother  sees  in  vision  the  realization  of  her  fore- 
bodings. The  old  woman  sings  the  caoin,  or  death- 
lament,  of  her  lost  sons,  the  wailing  is  taken  up  by 
the  others,  and  when  the  dead  body  of  Bartley  is  carried 
in,  the  cry  of  pain  rises  to  passionate  intensity,  only 
to  die  away  in  a  key  of  resignation  even  more  terribly 
sad.  "There_j^n/t^  airj^thing  more  the  sea  can  do^jto 
me"  is  the  submissive  comment  of  Slaurya. 

There  are  few  more  flawless  tragedies  than  this 
little  piece,  with  its  subtle  blending  of  diverse  elements, 
from  the  realism  of  the  cottage  interior,  displaying  an 


96         THE   CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF  IRELAND 

intimate  knowledge  of  Aran  customs,  to  the  symphonic 
quality  of  the  appeal  to  the  ear  in  the  phrasing  of  the 
speeches  and  the  wonderful  diapason  of  the  caoin. 
Describing  a  burial  in  one  of  his  notebooks,  Synge  refers 
to  this  lament  as  the  cry  of  pain  in  which  "the  inner 
consciousness  of  the  people  seems  to  lay  itself  bare 
for  an  instant,  and  to  reveal  the  mood  of  beings  who 
feel  their  isolation  in  the  face  of  a  universe  that  wars 
upon  them  with  wind  and  seas."  Riders  to  the  Sea 
palpitates  with  that  wail  of  despair,  whose  rise  and  fall 
constitute  the  movement  of  the  tragedy.  There  is 
little  uncertainty  as  to  the  fate  of  Bartley,  for  we  know 
at  once  that  he  has  gone  to  join  his  brothers  in  death, 
but  the  tension  is  one  of  emotional  suspense  prepared 
w^ith  a  skill  surpassing  the  suggestive  action  of  JMaeter- 
linck's  Interior.  Synge  hints  at  the  approach  of  death 
by  the  interplay  of  seeminglj^  irrelevant  details,  but 
their  effectiveness  is  tremendously  increased  by  the 
fact  that  each  trifle  contributes  something  to  the 
naturalism  of  the  mise-en-scene.  There  is  not  an 
action  or  a  word  but  is  doubly  significant,  first  as  part 
of  the  picture  of  manners,  and  secondly  as  a  portent 
of  the  tragedy.  The  dramatist's  hold  on  life  is  too 
profound  to  permit  of  his  exercising  mere  literary 
ingenuity  in  the  manipulation  of  symbols. 

Before  essaying  his  strength  in  the  three  acts  of  The 
Well  of  the  Saints,  Synge  wrote  a  two-act  comedy.  The 
Tinker's  Wedding,  which  belongs  to  the  period  of  the 
two  plays  we  have  examined,  although  it  was  not 
published  until  1907.  Mr.  John  Masefield  is  authority 
for  the  statement  that  this  was  Synge's  first  attempt 


THE    IMPULSE    TO   FOLK   DRAMA  97 

at  dramatic  writing,  and  its  relative  inferiority  is  evi- 
dence of  that  fact.  The  plot  of  The  Tinker's  Wedding 
is  an  elaboration  of  the  anecdote,  related  in  the  author's 
notes  on  Wicklow,  which  told  how  two  tinkers  tried 
to  have  a  priest  bless  their  union,  in  return  for  a 
gallon  can  and  a  small  sum  of  money,  and  how  they 
afterwards  pretended  that  the  can  had  been  damaged 
overnight  by  a  kick  from  their  ass.  Synge  might 
well  have  found  in  this,  or  his  other  Wicklow  expe- 
riences, the  substance  of  a  short  farce  or  a  really  good 
comedy,  but  the  theme  is  not  enough  for  the  two  acts 
of  The  Tinker's  JVedding.  The  play  follows  too  faith- 
fully the  main  lines  of  the  original  story. 

Sarah  Casey  and  her  companion,  INIichael  Byrne, 
persuade  the  priest  to  marry  them  for  "  a  bit  of  gold  and 
a  tin  can."  The  first  act  is  concerned  with  the  ludi- 
crous conversation  between  the  priest  and  the  tinkers, 
whose  blandishments  overcome  his  scruples  against 
countenancing  the  flagrant  irregularity  of  their  lives 
and  morals.  But,  as  the  scene  closes,  we  see  Michael's 
old  mother  going  off  with  the  tin  can  in  search  of  re- 
freshment, oblivious  to  its  destined  use  in  part  payment 
of  the  marriage  fee.  When  the  curtain  rises  again,  it 
is  to  show  us  the  tinker  family  engaged  in  preparations 
for  the  consecration  of  their  union,  an  event  w^hich 
excites  old  Mary  Byrne  to  derision,  and  then  to  fear, 
when  she  finds  that  the  can  she  exchanged  for  porter 
was  to  play  so  important  a  part.  The  astonishment 
of  the  prospective  bride,  when  three  empty  bottles 
fall  out  of  the  packet  in  which  the  can  had  been  wrapped 
is  surpassed  by  the  indignation  of  the  priest.     He  re- 


98        THE   CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF  IRELAND 

fuses  to  marry  the  couple  for  less  than  was  stipulated, 
and  in  a  moment  the  three  tinkers  are  against  him  — 
Michael  seizes  and  gags  him,  ties  him  up  in  a  sack,  and 
threatens  to  throw  lihn  into  the  bog-hole;  only  by 
promising  not  to  inform  the  police  does  the  priest  even- 
tually secure  his  freedom.  With  a  Latin  malediction 
he  terrifies  his  assailants,  who  run  away,  leaving  him 
master  of  the  situation. 

Seeing  that  such  an  inoffensive  play  as  In  the  Shadow 
of  the  Glen  had  aroused  popular  indignation,  it  is  not 
surprising  that  The  Tinker's  Wedding  should  not  yet 
have  faced  criticism  in  the  Irish  Theatre.  The  play 
has  never  been  performed  in  Ireland,  and  when  pro- 
duced in  London,  shortly  after  the  author's  death,  it 
was  unfavorably  received.  Synge  was  accused  of 
atheism  and  anti-clericalism  by  those  who  condemned 
the  printed  play,  but  the  charge  is  untrue.  He  was 
indulging  rather  that  characteristic  penchant  for  brutal, 
sardonic  humor,  for  which  the  irreverences  of  the 
vagabond  life  of  the  roads  supplied  rich  material. 
His  interest  in  tramps  and  outlaws  may  be  traced  to 
his  peculiar  sense  of  humor  whose  satisfaction  could 
not  be  found  in  the  orthodox  existence  of  more  sophis- 
ticated people.  The  note  of  The  Playboy  of  the  Western 
World  is  easily  perceptible  in  this  first  work  for  the 
stage.  Only  the  technical  weaknesses  of  The  Tinker's 
Wedding  differentiate  it  from  Synge's  later  work. 

As  it  happened,  the  dramatist  had  already  revealed 
the  full  quality  of  his  talent  when  The  Tinker's  Wedding 
was  published.  A  few  months  earlier  in  the  same  year, 
1907,  The  Playboy  of  the  Western  World  had  been  issued 


THE   IMPULSE   TO    FOLK   DEAMA  99 

in  book  form,  almost  immediately  after  its  riotous  pro- 
duction at  the  Abbey  Theatre.  However,  chronology 
demands  that  we  should  consider  Synge's  first  three- 
act  drama,  The  Well  of  the  Saints,  before  giving  our 
attention  to  his  masterpiece.  It  was  one  of  the  earliest 
plays  performed  at  the  newly-opened  Abbey  Theatre 
in  1905,  and  was  published  at  the  same  time  as  the 
first  volume  of  that  series  to  which  the  theatre  gave  its 
name.  Those  who  possess  the  fifteen  issues  of  the 
"Abbey  Theatre  Series"  have  in  a  convenient  and 
uniform  edition  the  best  that  the  Dramatic  Revival 
has  produced.  In  The  Well  of  the  Saints,  his  fourth 
play,  Synge  definitely  proclaimed  his  control  of  the 
dramatic  medium  by  the  ease  with  which  he  aban- 
doned the  one-act  for  the  three-act  form,  the  two  acts 
of  The  Tinker's  Wedding  having  served  to  mark  the 
transition. 

Doubtless  because  of  the  absence  of  any  hint  of 
this  play  in  the  usual  place,  Synge's  notebooks,  much 
misplaced  energy  has  been  expended  in  tracing  it  to 
various  sources,  Chaucer  and  Maeterlinck,  Zola  and 
Huysmans,  Georges  Clemenceau  and  Lord  Lytton. 
As  will  be  seen,  the  theme  is  so  universal  in  its  appeal, 
and  so  natural,  that  no  such  erudition  is  required  to 
explain  Synge's  choice.  Martin  and  Mary  Doul  are 
two  old  beggars,  ugly  and  w^orn  with  hardships,  whose 
blindness  has  made  them  as  unconscious  of  their  own 
defects  as  they  are  sensitive  to  the  beauties  of  their 
own  world  of  imagination  and  intuition.  To  the  vil- 
lage where  they  sit  comes  a  saint  who  can  work  miracles 
by  means  of  the  water  from  a  holy  well.    He  anoints 


100      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

the  eyes  of  the  blind  couple,  whose  sight  is  restored, 
with  disastrous  consequences  to  themselves  and  their 
neighbors.  Gone  are  their  illusions  respecting  their 
own  persons,  and  instead  we  find  them  gifted  with  a 
dreadful  candor  which  obliges  them  to  utter  all  the 
unpleasant  truths  revealed  by  their  clear-seeing  eyes. 
Their  friends  are  insulted,  and  they  themselves  are 
miserable  at  being  deprived  of  those  beautiful  dreams 
with  which  blindness  enabled  them  to  transfigure 
material  facts.  They  no  longer  hear  "the  birds  and 
bees  humming  in  every  weed  of  the  ditch,  the  swift 
flying  things  racing  in  the  air."  In  the  end,  however, 
their  eyes  are  darkened  once  more,  and  they  rejoice 
in  the  imaginative  existence  of  old.  When  the  saint, 
on  his  return,  tries  to  cure  them  again,  Martin  Doul 
knocks  the  holy  water  out  of  the  friar's  hand. 

The  Well  of  the  Saints  is  the  only  occasion  in  Synge's 
career  where  he  appears  to  express  the  traditional  re- 
volt of  the  Celtic  mind  against  the  despotism  of  fact. 
The  refusal  of  the  blind  beggars  to  accept  reality  in 
place  of  the  world  of  their  dreams  is  an  almost  Yeats- 
ian  treatment  of  a  situation  which  lends  itself  to  his 
symbolical  interpretation.  Yeats,  however,  could  not 
have  injected  the  grim  humor  and  realistic  irony  of 
Synge  into  a  miracle  story,  though  he  would  not  have 
scrupled  to  run  counter  to  religious  prejudices,  as  the 
dramatist  does  in  the  denouement,  by  causing  INIartin 
Doul  to  treat  the  saint  with  scant  consideration.  The 
gesture  of  the  beggar  in  dashing  the  miraculous  water 
to  the  ground  has  its  parallel  in  the  much  disputed 
scene,  in  The  Countess  Cathleen,  where  Shemus  stamps 


THE   IMPULSE  TO   FOLK  DRAMA  101 

the  shrine  under  foot.  Those  who  have  condemned 
Yeats  as  "un-Irish"  on  that  account  will  doubtless 
find  in  The  Well  of  the  Saints  a  similar  motive  for 
applying  the  term  to  Synge.  The  play,  nevertheless, 
is  informed  by  the  very  spirit  of  the  race,  which  finds 
its  most  obvious  expression  in  the  rhythmic  prose  of 
the  idiom  in  which  it  is  written.  Its  more  subtle 
manifestations  are  defined  by  the  relations  of  the  two 
beggars  to  the  external  world  of  nature. 

Having  witnessed  the  culminating  indecency  of  the 
campaign  against  The  Playboy  of  the  Western  World, 
when  the  Irish  Players  were  arrested  at  Philadelphia  in 
1912,  the  American  public  can  have  but  a  slight  interest 
in  the  milder  forms  of  a  persecution  which  has  long 
since  expired  in  Ireland.  The  absurd  story,  moreover, 
has  been  so  extensively  related  by  critics  of  this  too 
much  discussed  work,  that  recapitulation  is  both  un- 
desirable and  unnecessary.  It  will  be  enough  to  say 
that  notoriety  immediately  achieved  for  the  author 
what  his  genius  was  but  slowly  acquiring,  the  attention 
of  the  serious  public  outside  his  own  country.  The 
noise  made  by  his  opponents  gave  his  admirers  in 
Ireland  the  opportunity  of  vindicating  their  belief 
in  him,  and,  incidentally,  of  obtaining  confirmation  in 
their  discernment,  at  the  hands  of  educated  criticism 
everywhere.  Germany,  as  usual,  had  recognized  the 
new  genius  in  advance  of  his  subsequent  popularity 
abroad.  Long  before  The  Playboy  was  heard  of,  The 
Well  of  the  Saints  had  been  translated  and  was  per- 
formed at  Max  Reinhardt's  Theatre  in  Berlin,  in  1906. 
But,  generally  speaking,  Synge  was  the  possession  of  a 


102      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

few  until  1907,  when  his  detractors  forced  him  upon  the 
notice  of  the  reading  pubhc  throughout  the  Enghsh- 
speaking  world.  It  would  be  impossible  to  exaggerate 
the  credit  due  to  W.  B.  Yeats  in  this  matter.  A  more 
timid  mind  would  have  shrunk  from  the  odium  of 
defying  those  who  had,  on  the  whole,  befriended  the 
work  of  the  Dramatic  Revival;  a  lesser  personality 
would  not  have  risked  himself  to  forward  the  claims 
of  the  only  writer  whose  fame  could  conflict  with  his 
own. 

The  now  familiar  narrative  tells  of  the  arrival  of 
Christy  Mahon  in  the  "shebeen",  or  low  saloon,  of 
Michael  James  Flaherty,  somewhere  in  County  IMayo, 
and  of  the  effect  of  his  presence  upon  the  inhabitants 
and  frequenters  of  that  resort.  When  Christy  enters 
the  cottage,  Pegeen  jNIike,  the  daughter  of  the  house, 
has  just  been  left  alone  by  her  pusillanimous  admirer 
and  future  husband,  Shawn  Keogh.  Shawn  would  not 
stay  unchaperoned  with  a  young  girl,  so  great  is  his 
deference  to  ecclesiastical  authority.  Pegeen  Mike, 
disgusted  at  this  supreme  exhibition  of  timidity,  is 
only  too  glad  when  the  mysterious  stranger  comes  upon 
the  scene,  and  when  it  transpires  that  Christy  has 
murdered  his  "da",  she  is  the  most  interested  of  the 
group  of  villagers  who  crowd  around  to  lionize  the  hero. 
The  two  are  left  alone  and  become  increasingly  at- 
tracted towards  one  another,  the  girl  contrasting  this 
brave  and  spirited  young  fellow  with  the  miserable 
coward  her  parents  have  chosen  for  her  —  a  typical 
specimen  of  a  bad  lot,  whose  defects  are  all  the  more 
manifest  now  that  Christy  is  among  them.    All  unite, 


THE   IMPULSE   TO    FOLK   DRAMA  103 

except  Shawn,  in  admiring  the  man  for  the  qualities 
they  themselves  do  not  possess,  and  the  womenfolk 
are  jealous  as  to  who  shall  carry  off  such  a  prize. 

Pegeen  Mike  is  determined  that  Christy  shall  marry 
her,  and  is  never  at  a  loss  for  expedients  to  discredit 
her  rivals  in  his  eyes.  Not  that  this  is  necessary,  for 
he  is  obviously  infatuated  by  and  flattered  by  the  pas- 
sion he  has  aroused  in  the  village  beauty.  The  amorous 
passages  between  Pegeen  and  Christy  are  instinct  with 
a  fine  primitive  poetry,  admirably  in  harmony  with  the 
two  personalities,  and  have  been  justly  praised  as 
being  the  most  remarkable  poetic  writing  in  contem- 
porary English.  But  the  course  of  their  love  is  not 
allowed  to  pass  uninterruptedly.  The  playboy  is 
induced  to  compete  in  the  races  being  held  in  the 
village,  and  while  he  is  away,  his  father  arrives  in  search 
of  the  would-be  parricide.  Christy's  blow  had  not 
killed,  but  only  stunned.  Old  Mahon.  His  boasting  is 
shown  for  what  it  is  worth,  and  the  halo  of  hero-worship 
falls  from  him,  so  far  as  Pegeen  and  the  others  are 
concerned.  The  subject  of  their  recent  admiration, 
however,  has  discovered  new  forces  within  himself. 
Instead  of  submitting  to  the  blows  of  his  father,  as  he 
used  to  do,  Christy  strikes  him,  in  an  attempt  to  con- 
summate the  crime  for  which  he  had  previously  been 
idolized.  Then  he  learns  that  there  is  "a  great  gap 
between  a  gallons  story  and  a  dirty  deed."  Every- 
body turns  against  him  when  visible  action  is  sub- 
stituted for  highly-colored  narrative,  and  the  two 
Mahons,  father  and  son,  are  driven  forth  by  universal 
hostility. 


104      THE    CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

In  one  of  his  rare  statements  of  literary  doctrine, 
Synge  declared  the  measure  of  serious  drama  to  be  "the 
degree  in  which  it  gives  the  nourishment,  not  very 
easy  to  define,  on  which  our  imagination  lives."  It  is 
only  by  the  application  of  that  test  that  the  manifold 
excellences  of  Tlie  Playboy  may  be  discovered.  Its 
imaginative  strength,  enhanced  by  its  wonderful  verbal 
qualities,  constitutes  the  charm,  for  the  language  is 
the  perfect  complement  of  the  emotional  intensity  of 
the  dramatist's  conception.  Where  the  passion  of  his 
mood  is  exalted,  as  in  the  love  passages  of  Christy  and 
Pegeen  Mike,  speech  rises  to  the  level  of  the  purest 
poetry.  In  the  altercations  between  rivals,  and  the 
scenes  of  quarrel,  the  same  medium  becomes  an  in- 
strument of  human  expression  whose  vigor  and  varied 
picturesqueness  are  paralleled  only  by  the  English  of 
the  Elizabethan  era.  This  medium,  now  so  universally 
admired,  was  the  Anglo-Irish  idiom  of  Gaelic  Ireland. 
Not  since  Douglas  Hyde's  Love  Songs  of  Connacht 
revealed  the  possibilities  of  peasant  speech,  nearly 
twenty  years  ago,  had  such  effect  been  secured  by  the 
use  of  the  idiom.  Synge  has  admitted  his  share  in 
the  general  debt  to  Hyde,  whose  experiments  in  Gaeli- 
cized  English  have  shown  the  way  to  so  many  writers, 
notably  to  Lady  Gregory,  who  is  frequently  credited 
with  an  originality  not  entirely  hers.  But  where 
Hyde  was  a  too  cautious  experimenter,  and  Lady 
Gregory  a  perceptible  literary  reporter,  Synge  showed 
himself  a  master.  Guided  by  the  example  of  the  Love 
Songs  of  Connacht,  he  made  a  more  intimate  study  from 
the  living  speech  of  the  Western  peasantry,  and  was 


THE   IMPULSE   TO    FOLK   DRAMA  105 

able  to  say,  in  the  preface  to  The  Playboy :  "  I  am 
glad  to  acknowledge  how  much  I  owe  to  the  folk- 
imagination  of  these  fine  people." 

The  remarkable  style  of  this  play  stands  out  when 
contrasted  with  the  "Kiltartan  English"  of  Lady 
Gregory's  Cuchulain  of  Muirthevme,  where  the  idiomatic 
phrasing  has  the  air  of  a  formula,  cold  and  artificial, 
except  where  the  inherent  beauty  of  a  phrase  confers 
upon  it  some  intrinsic  merit.  Synge  does  not  mechani- 
cally reproduce  what  he  has  heard  in  the  cottages ;  he 
molds  the  raw  material,  as  it  were,  of  peasant  speech 
until  it  corresponds  exactly  to  the  impulse  of  his  own 
imagination.  Hence  the  delicate  harmony  of  thought 
and  phrase.  He  had  so  completely  identified  himself 
with  the  life  of  the  people,  and  so  thoroughly  colored 
his  vision  with  the  Gaelic  spirit  of  its  original  concep- 
tion, that  he  could  create  where  others  reported.  "In 
countries,"  he  says,  "where  the  imagination  of  the 
people,  and  the  language  they  use,  is  rich  and  living, 
it  is  possible  for  a  writer  to  be  rich  and  copious  in  his 
words,  and  at  the  same  time  to  give  the  reality,  which 
is  the  root  of  all  poetry,  in  a  comprehensive  and  natural 
form."  That  sentence  is  at  once  an  explanation  and  a 
characterization  of  Synge's  work,  especially  when  we 
recall  his  own  words :  "  In  Ireland,  for  a  few  years 
more,  we  have  a  popular  imagination  that  is  fiery  and 
magnificent  and  tender ;  so  that  those  of  us  who  wish 
to  write  start  with  a  chance  that  is  not  given  to  writers 
in  places  where  the  springtime  of  the  local  life  is  for- 
gotten, and  the  harvest  is  a  memory  only." 

Strange,   indeed,   is  the   perversity  which   insisted 


106      THE    CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

upon  a  moral  —  or  immoral  —  purpose  in  the  writing 
of  The  Playboy,  and  the  other  dramas  which  have 
been  condemned  upon  ethical  grounds.  Synge's  at- 
tempts to  reply  to  his  censors  have  only  added  to  the 
preliminary  confusion  of  thought  upon  which  the 
controversy  was  based.  Instead  of  describing  this 
play  as  "an  extravaganza"  in  the  first  wild  moments  of 
popular  indignation,  and  then  withdrawing  the  term, 
in  order  to  engage  upon  a  demonstration  of  the  reality 
of  the  facts  alleged  as  libels,  he  would  have  done  well 
to  keep  silent.  Failing  that,  he  should  have  confined 
himself  to  that  explanation  published  shortly  after- 
wards in  the  preface  to  The  Tinker's  Wedding:  "The 
drama,  like  the  symphony,  does  not  teach  or  prove 
an}d;hing."  As  Synge  complained,  "in  these  days  the 
playhouse  is  too  often  stocked  with  the  drugs  of  many 
seedy  problems",  and  we  may  be  sure  he  had  no  desire 
to  add  to  the  number.  Unfortunately,  by  meeting 
his  critics  on  their  own  ground,  he  helped  to  inject  an 
alien  element  into  all  subsequent  discussion  of  The 
Playboy.  Criticism  is  still  preoccupied  with  the 
problem  of  his  "purpose"  in  writing  that  play.  As  if 
one  should  speculate  upon  the  libellous  veracity  of  Don 
Quixote,  or  examine  Tartarin  do  Tamscon  as  a  homily 
upon  the  Eighth  Commandment !  Cervantes  and 
Synge  both  reconstructed  imaginatively  the  moral 
and  psychological  elements  of  a  race,  so  that  their 
figures  assume  the  significance  of  eternal  human  types. 
The  loss  sustained  by  Irish  literature  through  the 
early  death  of  Synge  was  sharply  emphasized  by  the 
posthumous  publication  of  Deirdre  of  the  Sorrows.    This 


THE   IMPULSE   TO    FOLK   DRAMA  107 

unfinished  tragedy  was  produced  in  1910  at  the  Abbey 
Theatre,  and  appeared  in  book  form  the  same  year. 
In  spite  of  the  variously  successful  rehandling  of  this 
classic    theme    by    numerous    predecessors,    S3mge's 
version  has  such  beauty  and  originality  as  could  only 
come  from  so  powerful  and  independent  a  genius.     In 
discussing  the  Deirdre  of  Yeats,  we  had  occasion  to 
notice  how  he  departed  from  the  precedent  of  A.  E. 
by  making  the  crisis  in  the  Gaelic  story  his  point  of 
departure,  whereas  Synge  followed  A.  E.  in  dividing 
the  legend  into  three  dramatic  episodes.     At  this  point, 
however,   the   resemblance   between   the   two   ceases. 
Synge,  with  his  innate  sense  of  drama,  and  his  profound 
intuition  of  the  Gaelic  spirit,  retold  the  tragedy  of 
Naisi  and  Deirdre  in  terms  pulsating  with  heroic  life. 
His  sure  instinct  for  v/hat  is  most  national  in  the  story 
prompted  him  to  transpose  it  into  that  key  of  contem- 
porary nationality  most  attuned  to  the  old  Celtic  origins 
of  the  epic  romance.     Deirdre  is  no  longer  a  shadowy 
personage  of  the  heroic  age,  a  legendary  figure;   she 
is  a  wild,  passionate  woman,  who  struggles  helplessly 
against  the  fate  which  is  to  deprive  her  of  life  and  love. 
Although  the  play  develops  along  the  familiar  lines 
of  the  bardic  tale,  with  only  the  strange  character  of 
Owen  as  an  innovation,  there  is  an  original  and  per- 
sonal note  in  every  line.     Whether  it  be  Deirdre's 
cry :  "  There  are  as  many  ways  to  wither  love  as  there 
are  stars  in  a  night  of  Samhain ;   but  there  is  no  way 
to  keep  life,  or  love  with  it,  a  short  space  only.     It's 
for  that  there's  nothing  lonesome  like  a  love  that  is 
watching  out  the  time  most  lovers  do  be  sleeping",  or 


108      THE    CONTEMPORAEY  DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

Owen's  warning :  "Queens  get  old,  Deirdre,  with  their 
white  and  long  arms  going  from  them,  and  their  backs 
hooping.  I  tell  you  it's  a  poor  thing  to  see  a  queen's 
nose  reaching  down  to  scrape  her  chin",  —  the  im- 
print of  Synge  and  of  that  Ireland  nearest  to  the  Celtic 
tradition  is  visible.  Written  while  the  author  was 
dying,  his  end  hastened  by  the  strain  of  the  Playboy 
controversy,  Deirdre  has  all  the  sadness  of  Synge's 
own  tragic  conviction  that  "death  is  a  poor  untidy 
thing  at  best,  though  it's  a  queen  that  dies."  The 
personal  tragedy  of  the  dramatist,  and  the  intense 
reality  of  the  characters  drawn  from  a  people  allied 
by  untamed  nature  to  their  prototypes  of  legend,  com- 
bine to  give  this  work  an  intensity  unequaled  by  any 
other  tragic  writer.  Unfinished  as  it  is,  Deirdre  prom- 
ises to  be,  if  not  Synge's  masterpiece,  the  greatest 
modern  version  of  the  Gaelic  classic.  Not  only  is  it 
humanly  and  dramatically  more  convincing  than  the 
plays  of  Yeats  and  A.  E.,  but  it  contains  such  pure 
poetry  as  to  make  even  the  beautiful  poem  of  the  former 
seem  poor  in  its  lack  of  the  passion  inspiring  the  voice 
of  Deirdre : 

I  have  put  away  sorrow  like  a  shoe  that  is  worn  out 
and  muddy,  for  it  is  I  who  have  had  a  life  that  will  be 
envied  by  great  companies.  It  was  not  by  a  low  birth 
I  made  kings  uneasy,  and  they  sitting  in  the  halls  of 
Emain.  It  was  not  a  low  thing  to  be  chosen  by  Con- 
chubar  wdio  was  wise,  and  Naisi  had  no  match  for 
bravery.  It  is  not  a  small  thing  to  be  rid  of  grey  hairs 
and  the  loosening  of  the  teeth.  It  was  the  choice  of 
lives  we  had  in  the  clear  woods,  and  in  the  grave  we're 
safe  surely. 


THE   IMPULSE   TO   FOLK   DRAMA  109 

Passages  of  this  kind  are  frequent,  and  indicate  what 
Synge's  command  of  Anglo-Irish  idiom  would  have 
meant  for  the  future  of  the  folk  drama,  had  he  lived 
long  enough  to  carry  out  his  intentions.  For  there  can 
be  little  doubt  but  that  he  would  have  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  Irish  legend,  once  he  had  realized  his  power  to 
revivify  and  transfigure  the  epic  material.  It  is  known 
that  he  contemplated  the  breaking  of  new  ground,  and 
the  play  at  which  death  interrupted  him  may  be  re- 
garded as  pointing  the  way  of  his  proposed  escape  from 
the  semi-realistic  study  of  peasant  life.  Fundamentally 
Deirdre  and  Riders  to  the  Sea  are  alike,  in  spite  of  the 
superficial  air  of  realism  which  the  setting  of  the  latter 
confers  upon  it.  Folk  tragedy,  even  though  the  fable 
be  classic,  is  the  only  term  which  accurately  describes 
Synge's  Deirdre,  which  is,  therefore,  an  essential  part 
of  the  author's  work,  not  an  exceptional  experiment,  as 
some  have  maintained.  The  creator  of  The  Playboy 
was  something  more  than  an  exponent  of  peasant 
drama,  however  much  the  more  external  aspects  of 
his  art  have  impressed  his  successors.  They  have 
adopted  his  form,  but  have  failed,  as  a  rule,  to  fill  it 
with  that  subtle  essence  whereby  Synge  transformed 
reality  until  the  real  and  the  ideal  were  one.  It  is 
this  imaginative  re-creation  which  entitles  him  to  a 
place  amongst  the  great  dramatists  of  the  world's 
literature. 


110      THE    CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF  IRELAND 


Padraic  Colitm 

One,  at  least,  of  younger  playwrights  is  free  from  the 
suspicion  of  having  succumbed  to  the  prestige  conferred 
by  Synge  upon  the  peasant  drama.  Padraic  Colum 
differs  from  his  contemporaries  by  reason  of  his  having 
given  the  measure  of  his  originality  before  S}'nge  had 
exerted  any  influence  upon  the  work  of  the  Irish 
Theatre.  Although  Colum's  years  place  him  among 
what  is  termed  "the  younger  generation",  his  early 
beginning  makes  such  a  classification  misleading.  As 
previously  stated,  the  debuts  of  Synge  and  Colum 
were  contemporaneous,  the  latter' s  Broken  Soil  having 
followed  In  the  Shadow  of  the  Glen  by  a  few  weeks, 
in  1903.  But  if  we  take  account  of  his  activities  prior 
to  the  organization  of  the  Irish  National  Theatre  So- 
ciety, Colum's  seniority  is  even  more  definitely  estab- 
lished, not  only  as  against  the  later  dramatists  with 
whom  he  is  classed,  but  against  Synge  himself.  Padraic 
Colum  was  one  of  the  group  with  the  brothers  Fay 
which  launched  the  movement  whose  succession  to  the 
task  of  the  Literary  Theatre  has  been  related  in  an 
earlier  chapter.  About  1901  he  came  into  contact  with 
the  embryonic  association  promoted  by  the  Fays,  and 
the  interest  of  the  experiment  awoke  in  him  the  crea- 
tive desire.  The  following  year  saw  the  publication 
of  his  first  dramatic  essays.  The  Kingdom  of  the  Young 
and  The  Saxon  Shilling.  At  the  same  time  he  actively 
participated  in  the  enterprise  of  the  circle  by  playing 


THE    IMPULSE    TO   FOLK   DKAMA  111 

in  A.  E.'s  Deirdre,  at  the  inaugural  performance  of  the 
National  Dramatic  Company  as  the  successor  of  the 
Irish  Literary  Theatre.  In  short,  Padraic  Colum  is 
one  of  the  oldest  workers  in  the  movement  which  has 
given  Ireland  a  National  Theatre. 

Like  almost  every  Irish  writer  of  to-day,  Colum 
found  in  The  United  Irishman  his  first  encouragement. 
That  brave  little  journal  of  ideas,  and  its  successor 
Sinn  Fein,  published  the  work  of  all  who  had  anything 
to  contribute  to  Irish  culture,  and  in  its  files  will  be 
found  the  earliest,  as  well  as  the  later,  manifestations 
of  many  talents  since  known  to  fame.  James  Stephens 
wrote  in  its  columns  some  of  the  most  widely  admired 
pages  in  his  Crock  of  Gold,  when  only  such  an  editor 
as  Arthur  Griffith  had  the  discernment  to  print  them. 
Drama  and  verse,  particularly,  met  with  his  discrimi- 
nating hospitality.  Thanks  to  his  initiative,  such 
tentative  writings  as  Eoghan's  Wife  and  The  Foleys 
were  published  while  Colum  was  still  feeling  his  way 
towards  those  realistic  analyses  of  the  peasant  mind 
whose  first  important  exposition  was  Broken  Soil. 
For  Sinn  Fein  the  dramatist  also  wrote  verse,  in  the 
company  of  Seumas  O'Sullivan,  James  Stephens, 
Thomas  MacDonagh,  and  a  host  of  young  poets,  some 
of  whose  work  was  collected  by  A.  E.  for  his  little 
anthology.  New  Songs  (1904).  Encouraged  by  the 
reception  of  that  book,  several  of  these  new  singers 
issued  their  own  poems,  and  amongst  them  Colum, 
whose  Wild  Earth  appeared  in  1907.  This  remarkable 
volume,  through  which  breathed  the  essential  spirit  of 
folk  poetry,  was  reissued  later  with  additions,  but  the 


112      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

claims  of  the  theatre  were  so  to  absorb  the  poet  that 
he  is  only  now  promising  us  another  book  of  verse. 

After  its  production  in  1903,  Broken  Soil  was  re- 
written, and  did  not  make  its  appearance  as  a  printed 
play  until  1907,  when  it  was  entitled  The  Fiddler's 
House.  This  first  play,  like  those  that  followed  it, 
depends  not  at  all  upon  the  intricacies  of  external 
action.  No  other  Irish  dramatist  dispenses  so  boldly 
with  plots  as  Colum,  who  relics  entirely  upon  the 
psychological  interest  of  the  situation  presented  by  the 
grouping  of  character  and  motives.  One  is  reminded 
of  Ibsen,  not  the  Ibsen  of  violent  denouements,  as  in 
Hedda  Gabler  or  Ghosts,  but  the  Ibsen  of  A  Doll's  House, 
which  may  well  have  suggested  the  second  title  of 
Broken  Soil.  Conn  Hourican,  the  old  fiddler,  has  the 
temperament  of  the  artist,  the  restless  longing  for 
freedom  and  change,  which  are  incompatible  with  the 
settled  virtues  of  the  peasant  estate.  His  daughters 
are  the  victims  of  his  improvidence,  for  only  Maire 
understands  him  suflBciently  to  sympathize  with  his 
attitude  towards  life.  Anne  has  the  instinct  of  her 
class  and  race,  which  compels  her  to  cling  to  the  soil 
and  enables  her  to  keep  the  affairs  of  the  "bohemian" 
household  in  order. 

The  dramatist  contents  himself  with  setting  Houri- 
can in  this  milieu  of  thrifty,  responsible  peasants,  and 
by  the  intimate  fidelity  of  the  picture  the  contrast 
between  the  fiddler  and  his  neighbors  is  dramatically 
exposed.  The  thoughts  and  cares  of  a  rural  community 
are  depicted  with  the  skill  and  knowledge  which  come 
only  from   a  talent  born  and  developed   in   similar 


THE  IMPULSE  TO  FOLK  DEAMA      113 

circumstances.  When  Conn  Hourican  finally  obeys 
the  call  of  the  roads,  and  sets  off  with  Maire  to  live  his 
life  as  a  strolling  fiddler,  we  have  obtained  a  glimpse 
into  the  soul  of  a  people.  The  characters  of  Colum's 
drama  are  not  the  stereotyped  figures  of  conventional 
peasant  melodrama,  they  are  human  beings  drawn 
straight  from  the  heart  of  the  Irish  midlands.  The 
struggle  whose  climax  closes  the  play  has  taken  place 
on  a  purely  intellectual  plane,  as  moving  in  its  restraint 
as  the  tragedy  of  Ibsen's  Nora.  Conn  Hourican's 
closing  words  are  typical  of  the  natural  appeal  of  the 
entire  dialogue :  '*  I'm  leaving  the  land  behind  me, 
too;  but  what's  land  after  all  against  the  music  that 
comes  from  far,  strange  places,  when  the  night  is  on 
the  ground,  and  the  bird  in  the  grass  is  quiet  ?  "  Not 
even  the  highly  colored  prose  of  Synge  is  more  effective. 
The  "agrarian  comedy"  which  preceded  The  Fiddler's 
House  was  the  author's  first  published  work.  The 
Land  appeared  in  1905,  as  number  three  of  that  "Abbey 
Theatre  Series"  of  plays  which  opened  with  Synge's 
Well  of  the  Saints,  and  its  literary  merits  correspond  to 
the  high  place  there  accorded  to  it.  Only  the  two  vol- 
umes of  the  series  for  which  Synge  was  responsible  can 
claim  superiority  to  this  dramatization  of  the  funda- 
mental problem  of  peasant  life,  the  call  of  the  land.  The 
year  of  its  production  marked  the  closing  scene  of  the 
agrarian  revolution  in  Ireland,  for  in  1905  the  Irish 
farmer  was  coming  into  possession  of  the  land  under 
the  terms  of  the  Land  Act  of  1903,  which  definitely 
established  peasant  proprietorship.  Out  of  his  deep 
knowledge   of  rural   conditions,   Colum  was  able  to 


114      THE   CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

envisage  the  new  prospect  from  a  side  not  open  to 
the  casual  observer. 

The  fatal  attraction  of  the  city  is  a  commonplace 
amongst  those  interested  in  agricultural  reform,  but 
Ireland  has  to  face  the  more  serious  competition  of 
the  United  States.  In  The  Land  is  shown  how  the 
youth  and  vigor  of  the  countryside  are  drawn  away  by 
the  lure  of  America.  Murtagh  Cosgar  is  a  typical 
Irish  farmer,  with  all  the  belief  in  parental  authority 
and  the  claims  of  the  family,  characteristic  of  his  race. 
No  sacrifice  is  too  great  to  preserve  the  land  and  the 
traditions  of  the  house  intact.  His  generation  have 
fought  and  suffered  for  the  ownership  of  the  soil,  but 
the  emotion  he  would  appeal  to  is  dead  in  his  son.  Matt, 
who  threatens  to  emigrate  if  his  liberty  is  curtailed 
by  parental  interference.  The  old  man  submits,  but 
he  humbles  in  vain  before  a  young  generation,  whose 
thoughts  are  fixed  upon  "  the  States."  Matt,  perhaps, 
would  have  felt  something  of  the  old  peasant  instinct 
towards  the  land,  but  his  sweetheart,  Ellen  Douras, 
has  been  educated  as  a  school-teacher,  and  her  ambi- 
tions lie  in  a  very  different  direction.  America  is 
everything  to  such  intellectual  deracines,  whose  one 
desire  is  to  escape  to  the  centers  of  urban  civilization. 
In  the  end  Matt  and  Ellen  go  away,  leaving  the  farm 
to  the  younger  children,  Cornelius  Douras  and  Sally 
Cosgar,  who  are  too  stupid  to  take  the  risk  of  indepen- 
dent action.  Old  age  and  ineflSciency  are  the  recipients 
of  the  benefits  for  which  generations  vainly  struggled 
and  died. 

The  action  of  the  play  consists  of  a  series  of  subtle 


THE   IMPULSE   TO   FOLK   DRAMA  115 

incidents  which  bring  out  the  clash  of  two  generations 
of  Irish  peasants,  the  revolt  of  youth  against  the  laws 
of  its  elders.  Rather  than  face  the  tyranny  of  the 
family,  the  young  people  gladly  seize  upon  the  reported 
advantages  of  life  in  America  as  an  excuse  for  abandon- 
ing the  land.  They  experience  none  of  the  joys  of 
victory,  for  they  did  not  take  part  in  the  land  wars  of 
which  their  chief  recollection  is  the  misery  and  suffer- 
ing entailed.  The  tragedy  is,  therefore,  in  the  fact 
that  now,  when  Ireland  should  be  rebuilding  its  rural 
society,  the  brains  and  energy  of  the  peasantry  have 
been  exported  for  industrial  exploitation.  The  Land 
is  a  poignant  presentation  of  the  question  which  forces 
itself  upon  the  attention  of  every  thinking  Irishman. 
The  answer  is  one  which  is  engaging  the  best  thought 
of  the  country,  and  has  found  concrete  expression 
in  the  economic  program  of  A.  E.  and  his  fellow- 
workers  outlined  in  Co-operation  and  Nationality. 
That  eloquent  plea  for  reconstruction  indicates  the 
nature  of  the  reply  to  the  query  upon  which  the  play 
closes :  "  Do  you  ever  think  of  the  Irish  nation  that 
is  waiting  all  this  time  to  be  born?" 

Elaborating  a  point  raised  in  The  Land,  but  viewing 
it  from  an  opposite  angle,  Padraic  Colum  wrote  Thomas 
Muskerry  in  1910.  The  exigencies  of  a  social  system 
in  which  the  family  unit  replaces  the  industrial  is  a 
theme  which  French  writers  have  frequently  studied, 
but  Colum  is  alone  in  his  attempt  to  perform  the  same 
service  for  Ireland.  He  does  not,  however,  expand 
the  situations  already  noticed  in  the  preceding  play. 
It  is  the  father,  not  his  children,  who  are  made  to  suffer 


116      THE    CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF  IRELAND 

from  the  abuse  of  family  obligation :  Thomas 
Muskerry,  the  master  of  Garrisowen  Workliouse,  is 
surrounded  by  two  generations  of  relatives  whose 
only  wish  is  to  make  the  utmost  profit  of  their  relation- 
ship with  a  man  of  some  importance  in  a  small  country 
town.  When  his  official  retirement  is  hastened  by  the 
malpractice  of  a  friend  who  has  exploited  his  kindness, 
the  family  and  dependents  of  Muskerry  at  once  con- 
spire to  get  rid  of  him,  that  they  may  the  better  estab- 
lish themselves  with  his  successor.  This  provincial 
Lear  becomes  the  center  of  a  series  of  sordid  intrigues, 
which  result  in  his  utter  destitution  and  abandonment 
at  the  hands  of  those  whom  he  has  benefited  all  the 
years  of  his  active  life.  Muskerry  dies  on  a  pauper's 
bed  in  the  institution  of  which  he  once  was  master, 
his  only  friend  the  blind  piper,  Myles  Gorman,  whom 
he  considered  in  the  days  of  his  prosperity  as  a  perfect 
example  of  a  man  without  home  or  friends.  An  out- 
cast and  a  vagabond,  Myles  is  the  only  person  who  aids 
him,  who  remembers  his  goodness,  and  makes  his  last 
moments  tolerable.  Like  another  Pere  Goriot,  Thomas 
Muskerry  is  killed  by  the  selfish  ingratitude  of  the 
family  he  has  created. 

These  three  plays  are  Colum's  most  important  con- 
tribution to  contemporary  Irish  drama.  Each  por- 
trays some  special  aspect  of  rural  life  as  seen  by  the 
peasant  mind,  and  their  common  characteristic  — 
which  is  significant  —  is  the  presence  of  conflict 
traceable  to  a  family  system  involving  the  sacrifice 
of  the  individual.  There  is  no  attempt  to  formulate 
problems  with  a  view  to  their  solution,  but  only  to 


THE  IMPULSE  TO  FOLK  DEAMA      117 

present  those  situations  which  afford  a  dramatic  in- 
sight into  the  workings  of  the  folk  nature.  Padraic 
Colum  was  born  in  the  Irish  Midlands,  and  the  drama 
of  existence  naturally  projected  itself  upon  his  con- 
sciousness in  terms  of  the  peasantry  whose  world  was 
his  own.  "The  dramatist",  he  wi-ites,  "is  concerned 
not  primarily  with  the  creation  of  character,  but  with 
the  creation  of  situations  .  .  .  that  will  produce  a 
powerful  impression  on  an  audience,  for  it  is  situation 
that  makes  the  strongest  appeal  to  our  sympathies." 
With  his  own  carefully  restrained  pictures  before  us, 
from  which  every  adventitious  or  forced  note  is  elimi- 
nated, it  is  easy  to  subscribe  to  this  theory.  His 
sobriety  is,  in  its  way,  as  impressive  as  the  vivid  fan- 
tasy of  Synge. 

^^^Yet  he  has  not  confined  himself  exclusively  to  this 
naturalistic  art.  As  far  back  as  1904  we  find  him 
working  at  that  Miracle  of  the  Corn  which  was  pub- 
lished three  years  later  in  the  little  booklet  Studies  and 
was  performed  at  the  Abbey  Theatre  in  1908.  In 
1912  he  published  The  Destruction  of  the  Hostel,  a  be- 
lated return  to  his  very  youthful  preoccupation  with 
the  heroic  stories  of  Gaelic  Ireland.  Based  upon 
Whitley  Stokes's  translation  of  The  Destruction  of  the 
Hou^e  of  Da  Derga,  this  fine  little  piece  was  well  re- 
ceived when  performed  by  the  pupils  of  the  late  Pad- 
raic Pearse,  at  St.  Enda's  College,  Dublin,  in  1910. 
Since  a  tragic  death  has  deprived  Ireland  of  a  notable 
figure  in  the  history  of  our  intellectual  renaissance,  that 
unique  institution  will  doubtless  disappear.  Without 
the  lofty  idealism  of  Pearse,  St.  Enda's  could  not  have 


118      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

become  what  it  was.  It  is  fortunate  that  the  publi- 
cation of  Colum's  play  in  the  pages  of  A  Boy  in  Eirinn 
(1913)  should  have  preserved  something  to  remind  us 
of  the  literary  side  of  an  admirable  educational  innova- 
tion :  the  first  experiment  in  genuinely  Irish  national 
education. 

The  grave  and  dignified  prose  of  Colum's  The  De- 
struction of  the  Hostel  promises  much  for  the  author 
should  he  turn  to  Gaelic  literature  for  the  material 
which  he  has  heretofore  found  in  his  own  experience. 
A  determination  to  seek  some  new  direction  for  his 
talent  was  revealed  by  the  publication  in  1912  of  The 
Desert,  just  published  in  America  under  the  title  of 
Mogu,  the  Wanderer.  This  play,  hastily  issued  to  sup- 
port a  charge  of  plagiarism,  has  now  been  given  the  per- 
manent revision  which  the  dramatist  had  desired  for 
it.  Its  main  interest  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  setting  of 
this  drama  of  Fate,  full  of  the  color  of  the  East,  gave 
the  first  clue  to  the  author's  new  orientation.  Since 
that  time  his  imagination  has  been  occupied  with  By- 
zantine history,  and  the  romance  of  that  vague  Orient, 
which  his  compatriot.  Lord  Dunsany,  has  so  splendidly 
divined. 

Until  we  have  been  allowed  to  see  the  work  of  these 
experimental  years,  it  would  be  premature  to  pass 
judgment  upon  the  second  manner  of  Padraic  Colum, 
as  exemplified  in  The  Desert.  If  he  can  realize  the  un- 
undeniable  promise  of  that  play,  whose  spectacular 
effectiveness  easily  surpasses  the  popular  Kismet  of 
Mr.  Edward  Knoblauch,  his  success  would  seem 
assured.    It  was  the  peculiar  similarity  of  these  two 


THE    IMPULSE   TO   FOLK   DEAMA  119 

dramas  which  forced  him  to  publish  The  Desert,  in 
order  to  prove  its  long  priority  to  a  piece  which  had 
been  justified  on  the  ground  of  mere  literary  coinci- 
dence. Without  denying  him  the  right  to  express  his 
fancy  as  it  wills,  one  cannot  help  at  the  same  time 
regretting,  and  preferring,  the  author  of  The  Land, 
and  The  Fiddler's  House.  Murtagh  Cosgar  and  Conn 
Hourican  are  not  to  be  evoked  by  every  dramatist, 
however  gifted.  Such  figures  could  only  be  recon- 
structed by  one  whose  roots  in  the  soil  are  as  deep  as 
theirs.  They  are  the  true  protagonists  of  the  folk 
drama  and  could  not  have  been  conceived  except  in 
the  spirit  of  the  movement  which  Colum  helped  to 
initiate. 

Unfortunately,  like  most  of  his  early  companions  in 
that  dramatic  enterprise,  including  its  originators  the 
Fays,  Padraic  Colum  has  seen  his  work  gradually 
neglected  by  the  National  Theatre.  Coincidentally 
with  the  departure  of  the  actors  and  playwrights  to 
whose  pioneering  activities  that  institution  owes  its 
fame,  his  plays  have  disappeared  from  the  current 
repertory  of  the  Irish  Players.  Precedence  has  been 
given  to  those  stereotyped  farces  and  melodramas  whose 
only  claim  to  distinction  is  their  Irish  accent,  and  which 
aje  saved  from  utter  banality  by  what  still  survives  of 
the  histrionic  achievement  of  the  brothers  Fay.  The 
newcomers  have  learnt  the  formulae  and  can  count  upon 
popularity  with  those  to  whom  the  Irish  Theatre  is  a 
species  of  eccentric  show.  They  have  adopted  the 
external  features  of  Colum's  realism,  as  they  have 
borrowed  the  superficial  violences  of  Synge's  verbal 


120      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

energy.  With  certain  exceptions,  to  be  noted  subse- 
quently, the  later  "Abbey  playwrights"  have  con- 
tributed nothing  personal  to  the  development  of  the 
peasant  play.  J.  M.  Synge  and  Padraic  Colum  have 
between  them  prescribed  the  two  modes  of  the  genre, 
their  complete  dissimilarity  being  testimony  to  the 
original  genius  of  each.  At  the  cost  of  popular  success, 
Colum  has  remained  faithful  to  himself ;  he  has  with- 
stood the  temptation  to  melodramatize  Synge. 


CHAPTER  VI 

Peasant  Comedy:    Lady  Gregory  and  William 
Boyle 


Writing  and  Environment 

While  the  later  imitative  dramatists,  under  the 
influence  of  Synge,  have  specialized  in  scenes  of  vio- 
lence, they  have  not  been  without  models  of  another 
kind.  Lady  Gregory  and  William  Boyle  both  estab- 
lished a  reputation  as  comic  writers  at  a  comparatively 
early  stage  in  the  history  of  the  Dramatic  Revival, 
and,  contrary  to  the  experience  of  the  majority  of 
their  colleagues  at  that  time,  neither  has  suffered  from 
the  advent  of  changed  conditions.  The  exigencies 
of  finance  and  the  demands  of  essentially  uncritical 
audiences,  have  modified  to  some  extent  the  intentions 
of  the  founders  of  the  Irish  Theatre.  But  Lady  Greg- 
ory and  William  Boyle  have  succeeded,  not  only  in 
retaining  the  prominence  denied  to  such  pioneers  as 
A.  E.  and  Padraic  Colum,  but  they  have  become  the 
most  popular  playwrights  of  the  new  regime.  Their 
work  vies  with  that  of  the  younger  melodramatists  of 
recent  years,  so  that  they  may  serve  as  a  link  between 

121 


122      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

the  pioneering  era  with  which  they  were  associated 
and  the  newcomers  to  whom  the  original  organization 
is  a  vague  tradition.  Lady  Gregory,  it  is  true,  wrote 
her  maiden  effort,  Twenty-five,  in  1903,  when  the  Fays' 
group  had  just  been  reorganized  as  the  Irish  National 
Theatre  Society,  but  her  real  success  practically  coin- 
cided with  that  of  William  Boyle,  when  the  Abbey 
Theatre  was  opened  to  the  public  for  the  first  season, 
in  1905.  Ever  since  that  date  they  have  been  more 
constantly  before  the  public  than  other  Irish  drama- 
tists. 

Lady  Gregory  has  been  such  an  indefatigable  worker 
on  behalf  of  the  Literary  Revival  in  general,  and  of  the 
Irish  Theatre  in  particular,  that  it  would  be  unjust 
to  suggest  the  limitation  of  her  role  to  the  purveying 
of  popular  amusement.  In  a  chapter  of  autobiography. 
Our  Irish  Theatre  (1913),  she  has  given  an  account  of 
her  participation  in  the  movement  which  can  leave  no 
doubt  as  to  the  multiple  nature  of  her  services. 
Readers  of  that  work  will  learn  of  considerable  activi- 
ties which  could  not  have  reached  the  knowledge  of 
the  outside  world  had  she  not  disclosed  them.  So 
completely  has  she  set  forth  the  history  of  the  Dramatic 
Revival,  in  its  relation  to  herself,  that  nothing  remains 
to  be  added  by  another  hand.  Socially,  financially, 
and  administratively,  Lady  Gregory  has  used  her  in- 
fluence to  foster  the  undertaking  with  which  W.  B. 
Yeats  associated  her,  when  A.  E.  had  convinced  him 
of  the  possibilities  of  W.  G.  Fay's  company  of  players. 
Both  her  own  statements  and  those  of  Yeats  testify 
to  the  mutual  advantage  of  their  cooperation,  and  while 


LADY   GREGORY   AND   WILLIAM   BOYLE        123 

this  collaboration  has  been  severely  criticized  on  liter- 
ary grounds,  the  devotion  of  Lady  Gregory  has  never 
been  questioned.  It  is  possible  to  argue  that  the 
quality  of  Yeats's  work  has  been  diminished  by  the 
association  of  an  art  seriously  at  variance  with  his 
own ;  it  cannot  be  denied  that  his  activities  for  the 
advancement  of  the  Irish  Theatre  have  been  strength- 
ened and  enlarged  by  the  presence  of  a  faithful  collab- 
orator. 

Lady  Gregory  having  herself  placed  on  record  the 
nature  and  extent  of  her  share  in  the  building  up  of 
the  National  Theatre,  it  is  only  necessary  to  refer  to 
her  general  position  in  the  world  of  Anglo-Irish  letters. 
A  brief  consideration  of  her  non-dramatic  writings  will 
enable  us  to  turn  to  those  specific  contributions  to 
contemporary  Irish  drama  upon  which  the  present 
estimate  must  be  based.  In  addition  to  the  volume  of 
reminiscence  already  mentioned,  Lady  Gregory  is  the 
author  of  some  half-dozen  prose  works,  which  are 
entitled  to  a  higher  place  in  contemporary  Irish  litera- 
ture than  any  of  her  more  popular  plays :  Cuchulain 
of  Muirthemne  (1902),  Poets  and  Dreamers  (1903), 
Gods  and  Fighting  Men  (1904),  A  Book  of  Saints  and 
Wonders  (1906).  To  these  may  be  added,  for  com- 
pleteness, two  works  of  lesser  importance,  —  The 
Kiltartan  Wonder  Book  and  The  Kiltartan  History  Book, 
both  pubhshed  in  1910. 

Cuchulain  of  Muirthemne  and  Gods  and  Fighting 
Men  have  been  greeted  with  such  extremes  of  praise 
and  blame  that  their  real  merits  and  demerits  have 
been  obscured.    The  former  volume  is  a  retelling  of  the 


124      THE    CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF  IRELAND 

Cuchulain  legends;  the  latter  performs  the  same  ser- 
vice for  the  legends  of  the  Fianna,  as  well  as  for  the 
deities  of  Celtic  mythology.  In  neither  instance  was 
Lady  Gregory  the  initiator  some  have  been  led  to 
believe.  Numerous  versions  of  these  Gaelic  stories 
had  been  made  prior  to  the  advent  of  the  works  in 
question,  the  most  notable  being  the  two  volumes  of 
Standish  James  O'Grady:  The  History  of  Ireland: 
Heroic  Period  (1878)  and  The  History  of  Ireland:  Cucu- 
lain  and  his  Contemporaries  (1880).  This  wonderful 
expression  of  an  epic  imagination  kindled  the  enthu- 
siasm of  the  poets,  W.  B.  Yeats,  A.  E.,  and  their  friends 
from  whom  the  Irish  Literary  Revival  received  its  im- 
pulse. All  the  writers  of  their  generation  acknowl- 
edged O'Grady  as  the  prophet  who  had  led  them  into 
the  rich  fields  of  Gaelic  poetry  and  tradition,  and  his 
fame  in  Ireland  is  all  the  more  precious  because  it 
has  never  spread  abroad.  Few  Irishmen  will  deny 
him  the  title  of  "  Father  of  the  Revival. ' '  The  brilliant 
eloquence  and  ardent  vision  of  O'Grady  first  brought 
the  old  bardic  literature  into  circulation  again,  rescuing 
it  from  the  laborious  attention  of  translators  and  anti- 
quarians. 

Though  he  has  not  failed  to  voice  his  share  in  that 
prevailing  admiration  for  O'Grady,  W.  B.  Yeats  has 
managed  to  convey  the  unpression  that,  but  for  Lady 
Gregory,  Gaelic  legend  and  history  would  have  re- 
mained in  the  obscurity  of  the  learned  societies.  It  is 
possible  that  some  few  of  the  younger  generation  in 
Ireland  owe  to  her  their  first  enthusiasm  for  the  heroic 
tales,  but  even  the  youngest  poets  have  learned  much 


LADY  GKEGOKY  AND   WILLIAM  BOYLE        125 

from  0' Grady.  The  original  character  of  Lady  Greg- 
ory's versions  lies  rather  in  their  composition  and 
style.  She  has  taken  all  the  available  texts,  and  by  a 
process  of  coordination  and  elimination  has  welded 
them  into  a  homogeneous  and  consecutive  narrative. 
At  the  same  time  she  has  employed  peasant  idiom,  in 
order  to  evoke  the  atmosphere  in  which  the  legendary 
lore  of  Gaelic  Ireland  is  still  living,  in  the  cottages  of 
the  West,  where  the  old  traditions  are  preserved.  Both 
these  innovations  have  been  severely  criticized.  On 
the  one  hand,  it  is  argued  that  the  original  text  is 
distorted  by  this  arbitrary  method  of  collation,  on 
the  other,  that  the  monotony  and  artificiality  of  the 
idiomatic  style  deprive  the  old  epics  of  their  virile 
nobility.  This  criticism  would  be  more  forcible,  per- 
haps, if  Lady  Gregory  were  the  sole  source  to  which 
the  reader  could  turn  for  information.  But  transla- 
tions of  varying  degrees  of  accuracy  are  available, 
from  the  scholarly  publications  of  the  Irish  Texts 
Society,  —  The  Cuchullin  Saga  of  Eleanor  Hull,  for 
example,  —  to  the  vivid  historical  reconstructions  of 
O'Grady.  There  can  be  no  question  as  to  the  popular 
value  of  such  works  as  Lady  Gregory's,  and  it  is  with 
the  general  public  in  mind  that  one  can  indorse  the 
laudatory  comments  of  W.  B.  Yeats,  who  holds  Cuchu- 
lain  of  Muirthemne  and  its  companion  volume  to  be 
the  Irish  equivalent  of  Malory's  Morte  d' Arthur. 

Poets  and  Dreamers,  like  A  Book  of  Saints  and  Won- 
ders, has  an  interest  of  a  documentary  rather  than  a 
literary  nature.  Both  consist  largely  of  brief  frag- 
ments and  anecdotes  which  are  illustrative  of  the  folk 


126      THE    CONTEMPORAEY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

imagination,  as  the  idiom  is  an  illustration  of  folk 
speech.  Reading  them,  one  understands  where  Lady 
Gregory  amassed  that  wealth  of  verbal  humor  upon 
which  her  comedies  rely  for  their  effect.  The  first- 
mentioned  book  is  valuable  for  its  sympathetic  essay 
on  the  poetry  of  Douglas  Hyde,  who  originated  the 
idiomatic  method  so  greatly  extended  by  Synge  and 
Lady  Gregory.  It  also  contains  translations  of  his 
verse  and  of  four  plays  from  the  Gaelic.  Lady 
Gregory  has  translated  a  number  of  Hyde's  dramatic 
pieces,  thereby  strengthening  her  skill  in  the  adapta- 
tion of  Gaelicized  English  to  the  needs  of  literature. 
Her  Kiltartan  books  are  exercises  of  a  similar  kind, 
being  simple  narratives  of  history  and  folklore  told 
in  what  has  now  become  known  as  "  Kiltartanese ", 
the  speech  of  the  country  people  in  the  district  of 
Kiltartan,  near  the  author's  home  in  County  Galway. 
This  dialect  has  become  familiar  through  its  constant 
employment  by  Lady  Gregory  in  the  plays  she  has 
written  for  the  Irish  Theatre.  Not  the  least  successful, 
and  certainly  the  most  original,  occasion  of  its  use  was 
in  those  remarkable  translations  of  Le  Medecin  malgre 
lid,  Les  Fourberies  de  Scapin,  and  VAvare,  which  were 
performed  at  the  Abbey  Theatre  during  its  first  years, 
and  appeared  in  1910  as  The  Kiltartan  Moliere. 

2 

The  Comedies  of  Lady  Gregory 

With  the  exception  of  The  Unicorn  from  the  Stars, 
which  has  already  been  mentioned  amongst  the  works 


LADY   GREGORY  AND   WILLIAM   BOYLE        127 

of  W.  B.  Yeats,  and  Twenty-five,  her  first  effort  at 
dramatic  writing,  the  plays  of  Lady  Gregory  have 
been  collected  into  five  volumes :  Seven  Short  Plays 
(1909),  The  Image  (1910),  New  Comedies  (1913),  and 
two  collections  of  Irish  Folk  History  Plays  (1912).  Of 
all  these,  the  first-mentioned  contains  her  best  and 
most  characteristic  work,  including,  as  it  does,  those 
inimitable  one-act  farces  which  have  never  been  long 
absent  from  the  stage  of  the  Abbey  Theatre  since  its 
inception.  Strange  to  say,  the  author's  first  contribu- 
tion to  the  repertory  of  the  Irish  Players  was  a  serious 
drama,  Ttventy-five,  which  has  never  been  published 
since  its  performance  in  1903.  The  following  year  Lady 
Gregory  wrote  Spreading  the  News,  the  forerunner  of 
those  numerous  little  comedies  with  which  her  name 
is  now  associated.  In  rapid  succession  came  Hyacinth 
Halvey,  The  Jackdaw,  The  Rising  of  the  Moon,  and 
The  Poor  house,  and  in  1907  three  of  her  plays  were 
issued  in  the  Abbey  Theatre  Series,  under  the  title, 
Spreading  the  News  and  other  comedies.  When  the 
larger  volume,  Seven  Short  Plays,  was  published.  The 
Poorhouse  had  been  rewritten  as  The  Workhouse  Ward, 
and  two  pieces  of  a  very  different  character  were 
added.  The  Gaol  Gate  and  The  Travelling  Man. 

The  substance  of  these  typical  plays  is  too  slight 
to  bear  summary.  The  usual  starting  point  is  some 
ridiculous  misconception,  which  enables  the  characters 
to  react  grotesquely,  as  in  The  Jackdaw,  where  a  mis- 
understanding leads  to  an  absurd  competition  amongst 
the  villagers,  who  believe  that  a  large  sum  of  money 
will  be  paid  to  them  for  every  jackdaw  they  capture. 


128      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

In  Spreading  the  News  similar  fun  is  derived  from  the 
distortion  of  an  innocent  remark  by  the  credulous 
gossips  of  a  village,  which  is  thrown  into  a  state  of 
comic  upheaval  by  the  imaginary  fears  of  its  inhabit- 
ants. There  is  more  genuine  satire  in  The  Workhouse 
Ward,  with  its  humorous  picture  of  two  old  paupers 
whose  quarrels  never  cease  until  they  are  at  the  point 
of  being  separated.  Then  they  sink  their  animosities 
and  will  not  be  parted.  Since  only  one  of  them  can  be 
released,  they  prefer  to  remain  together,  but  as  the 
curtain  falls,  they  are  seen  renewing  in  the  most  violent 
fashion  their  habitual  war  of  words.  The  Rising  of  the 
Moon  is  an  even  better  comedy  of  Irish  nature :  with 
its  whimsical  story  of  a  policeman's  struggle  between 
his  official  duties  and  his  national  and  personal  sym- 
pathy for  the  rebel  whom  it  is  his  business  to  arrest. 
The  development  of  the  incidents  which  finally  per- 
suade him  to  let  his  prisoner  escape  is  very  skilful. 
Illustrative  of  another  aspect  of  the  same  question  is 
The  Gaol  Gate,  one  of  Lady  Gregory's  finest  works. 
Here  the  tragedy  is  that  of  a  mother  who  comes  to  the 
prison  where  her  son  is  held  for  a  political  offense. 
Grieved  as  she  is  at  his  loss,  her  grief  is  embittered  by 
the  belief  that  he  has  turned  informer  to  escape  death. 
When  she  learns  that  he  has  paid  the  extreme  penalty 
rather  than  betray  his  friends,  her  caoin  is  one  of 
mingled  lament  and  joy  at  the  thought  of  his  patriotic 
faith. 

In  New  Comedies,  Lady  Gregory  has  collected  her 
more  recent  one-act  plays.  The  Bogie  Men,  The  Fidl 
Moon,  Coats,  Darner's  Gold,  and  McDonough's  Wife. 


LADY   GEEGORY  AND   WILLIAM   BOYLE        129 

None  of  these  equals  the  earher  comedies ;  the  original 
verve  and  zest  have  made  way  for  a  certain  mechanical 
effect  which  must  be  attributed  to  excessive  exploita- 
tion of  the  same  material.  That  this  material  is  thin 
would  seem  to  be  indicated  by  the  author's  having  had 
recourse  to  the  device  of  resuscitating  the  characters 
of  previous  works.  Amusing  as  Hyacinth  Halvey  was 
in  the  play  of  that  name,  he  ceases  to  be  so  when 
regalvanized  in  The  Full  Moon,  a  play  utterly  devoid 
of  good  humor.  There  is  a  noticeable  tendency  in  the 
later  comic  work  of  Lady  Gregory  towards  the  use  of 
the  most  hackneyed  ficelles  of  the  conventional  farce. 
Coats  is  of  the  species  of  curtain-raiser  familiar  to  all 
patrons  of  vaudeville. 

On  the  other  hand,  The  Image,  the  writer's  most 
ambitious  comedy,  was  a  promising  departure  from  the 
stereotyped  farce.  Its  three  acts  center  about  a 
motive  which  has  been  developed  with  greater  success 
by  George  Birmingham  in  General  John  Regan,  — 
both  plays  having  been  derived  from  a  suggestion  of 
the  poet,  A.  E.  Those  who  have  seen  the  latter  play 
will  be  interested  in  comparing  the  treatment  of  an 
identical  theme  by  two  authors  who  have  specialized 
in  the  humors  of  Irish  life.  As  Lady  Gregory  works 
out  the  idea,  that  of  honoring  a  wholly  imaginary  great 
man,  the  theme  is  radically  modified,  whereas  George 
Birmingham  confines  his  attention  to  the  superficial 
comedy  of  such  a  situation.  She  describes  how  un- 
expected wealth  comes  in  the  shape  of  two  whales  to 
a  poor  village  in  the  west  of  Ireland.  The  great  fish 
are  lying  on  the  shore,  and  the  protagonists  of  the  play 


130      THE    CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF  IRELAND 

are  speculating  as  to  what  they  will  do  with  their  share 
of  the  proceeds  when  the  oil  is  sold.  The  priest  pro- 
poses that  the  money  be  spent  for  the  good  of  the  vil- 
lage, so  it  is  decided  to  erect  a  statue  to  a  certain  Hugh 
O'Lorrha,  for  reasons  whose  exposition  is  the  occasion 
of  excellent  satire.  Days  pass  in  quarreling  and  de- 
bating about  the  expenditure  of  the  money,  until  it  is 
discovered  that  all  the  oil  has  been  drauii  from  the 
blubber  of  one  whale  by  the  men  of  a  neighboring  com- 
munity, while  the  other  has  been  carried  out  to  sea 
by  the  high  tide.  There  is  an  undercurrent  of  satirical 
criticism  in  The  Image  which  is  absent  from  the  rollick- 
ing good  humor  of  General  John  Regan,  but  while  the 
latter  realizes  its  author's  more  modest  intentions,  the 
former  just  fails  to  be  convincing. 


The  Plays  of  Folk  History 

The  most  original,  if  the  least  successful,  part  of 
Lady  Gregory's  dramatic  writings  will  be  found  in  the 
six  Folk-IIistoi-y  Plays,  especially  the  three  "tragic 
comedies",  The  Canavans,  The  White  Cockade,  and  The 
Deliverer.  The  three  tragedies,  Grania,  Kincora,  and 
Devorgilla,  are  not  such  innovations  in  the  treatment  of 
legendary  or  historical  themes.  They  are  but  sys- 
tematic attempts  to  do  what  Synge  achieved,  in  Deirdre 
of  the  Sorroics,  by  the  instinct  of  genius :  to  translate  the 
subjects  of  classical  tragedy  into  terms  of  folk  drama. 
Kincora,  for  example,  the  earliest  of  these  tragedies, 
deals  with  a  situation  out  of  Irish  history.   Brian,  King 


LADY   GBEGORY   AND    WILLIAM   BOYLE        131 

of  Munster,  receives  Malachi,  the  High  King  of  Ire- 
land, at  his  royal  house  at  Kincora,  that  they  may  try 
to  arrange  terms  of  peace  in  a  mutually  satisfactory 
manner.  The  two  chieftains  who  are  opposed  to  the 
arrangement,  by  which  Malachi  and  Brian  arrogate 
to  themselves  dominion  over  the  North  and  South 
respectively,  are  afterwards  defeated  at  the  battle  of 
Glenmama.  The  High  King  would  condemn  Sitric 
and  Maelmora  to  death,  but,  at  the  instance  of  Queen 
Gormleith,  whose  son  and  brother  are  thus  about  to 
die,  Brian  champions  the  two  offenders.  Subsequently 
he  overcomes  Malachi,  and  receives  as  part  of  his  vic- 
tory the  hand  of  Gormleith,  for  "the  Queen  of  Tara 
must  not  lose  the  crown  of  Tara."  As  Malachi,  how- 
ever, foresaw,  she  could  not  exist  without  perpetual 
strife,  being  a  captured  Dane,  without  any  feeling  of 
pride  in  the  country  forced  upon  her.  With  her  son, 
Sitric,  Gormleith  joins  forces  with  the  Danish  invasion 
which  Brian  defeats  at  the  battle  of  Clontarf,  only  to 
be  killed  himself  in  the  hour  of  victory,  his  spirit  crushed 
by  the  treacherous  conduct  of  the  Queen. 

The  melodramatic  incoherence  of  Kincora  was  doubt- 
less due  in  some  measure  to  the  fact  that  it  was  the 
author's  first  attempt  at  historical  reconstruction.  It 
has  been  drastically  revised  since  its  original  publica- 
tion and  production  in  1905,  the  prologue,  and  two 
scenes  in  the  third  act  having  been  omitted  when  it 
was  revived  in  1909.  But  the  play  of  three  acts  does 
not  seem  to  be  within  the  scope  of  Lady  Gregory's 
talent,  as  we  noticed  in  the  case  of  The  Image.  The 
"one-acter"  shows  her,  as  a  rule,  at  her  best,  as  was 


132      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

demonstrated  when  Devorgilla,  the  second  of  her  folk- 
history  tragedies,  was  produced  in  1907.  Foreign 
critics  have  not  been  able  to  sense  the  appeal  of  this 
essentially  national  episode.  Devorgilla  is  the  old 
Queen  of  Breffn}^  who  was  responsible,  in  the  days  of 
her  youth,  for  bringing  the  English  into  Ireland.  She 
is  living  a  secluded  and  almost  anonymous  existence 
at  the  Abbey  of  INIellifont,  but  the  chance  singing  of  a 
passing  minstrel  brings  before  her  the  tale  of  the  havoc 
wrought  by  her  former  misdeeds.  The  unconscious 
offender  is  driven  into  the  English  camp  by  Devor- 
gilla's  servant,  Flann,  whose  life  is  taken  by  the  enemies 
of  his  country.  The  bereaved  widow,  in  mourning  her 
husband's  death,  reveals  the  identity  of  the  old  Queen 
to  the  assembled  people,  to  whose  sports  Devorgilla 
had  been  invited  as  prize-giver.  As  soon  as  they  know 
who  she  is,  they  return  contemptuously  the  trophies 
she  has  distributed,  and  the  Queen  submits  to  the  in- 
sult, for  she  recognizes  the  justice  in  the  "swift,  un- 
flinching, terrible  judgment  of  the  young."  As  played 
by  Miss  Sara  Allgood,  the  part  of  Devorgilla  was  in- 
formed by  all  the  tragic  pathos  of  a  life  conscious  of 
its  responsibility  for  unutterable  woe. 

By  far  the  best  of  Lady  Gregory's  experiments  in 
serious  folk  drama  is  her  as  yet  unacted  Grania,  which 
alone  can  be  compared  with  Synge's  consummate 
achievement  in  this  genre.  The  love  story  of  Diar- 
muid  and  Grania  is  to  the  Fenian  cycle  of  Irish  legend 
what  that  of  Naisi  and  Deirdre  is  to  the  earlier  Ossianic 
cycle,  but  it  has  exercised  no  corresponding  fascination 
upon  the  poets.    With  the  exception  of  that  curious 


LADY   GREGORY  AND   WILLIAM   BOYLE        133 

play  in  which  IMoore  and  Yeats  collaborated  for  the 
Irish  Literary  Theatre  in  1901,  this  work  of  Lady 
Gregory's  is  the  only  dramatization  of  the  subject  which 
the  Revival  has  seen.  Grania  is  to  marry  Finn  of 
Almhuin,  but  she  prefers  the  youthful  Diarmuid,  with 
whom  she  flees  into  the  wilderness,  where  they  wander 
for  seven  years.  Faithful  to  his  pledge,  Diarmuid 
refuses  to  become  the  lover  of  Grania,  but,  finally, 
circumstances  force  him  to  forget  his  vow,  and  for  a 
brief  week  the  couple  live  as  man  and  wife.  Grania, 
however,  discovers  that  his  resistance  constituted 
Diarmuid's  chief  charm,  and,  once  he  has  surrendered, 
her  thoughts  turn  to  other  conquests.  The  lovers 
are  about  to  quarrel  when  Finn  arrives,  in  the  guise 
of  a  beggar,  to  reproach  Diarmuid  with  treachery. 
Touched  with  remorse,  the  young  warrior  rushes  forth 
to  fight  for  his  master,  and  is  slain.  Whereupon  Grania 
devotes  her  attentions  to  Finn,  transferring  her  way- 
ward affection  from  3'outh  to  old  age.  This  she  could 
do  for  the  reason  that  her  feminine  pride  had  keenly 
suffered  from  that  faithfulness  to  Finn,  which  so  long 
kept  Diarmuid  out  of  her  power.  That,  at  least,  is 
Lady  Gregory's  interpretation  of  a  character  whose 
psychology  presented  itself  to  George  Moore  in  less 
subtle  terms  —  terms  which  brought  upon  the  collab- 
orators the  accusation  of  having  transformed  a  beau- 
tiful legend  into  "the  plot  of  an  average  French 
novel." 

The  influence  of  Synge  is  evident  in  Grania,  which 
rises  above  the  fairly  commonplace  level  of  its  com- 
panion plays  precisely  in  proportion  as  it  emulates 


134      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

his  manner.  His  rhythms  are  in  such  speeches  as: 
"  But  you  and  I  could  have  changed  the  world  entirely, 
and  put  a  curb  upon  the  springtide,  and  bound  the 
seven  elements  with  our  strength,"  and  "It  was  at 
that  time  he  had  done  with  deceit  and  he  showed  where 
his  thought  was,  and  had  no  word  at  all  for  me  that 
left  the  whole  world  for  his  sake,  and  that  went 
wearing  out  my  youth,  pushing  here  and  there  as  far 
as  the  course  of  the  stars  of  Heaven",  or  "my  love  that 
was  allotted  and  foreshadowed  before  the  making  of 
the  world  will  drag  j'ou  in  spite  of  yourself,  as  the 
moon  above  drags  the  waves,  and  they  grumbling 
through  the  pebbles  as  they  come,  and  making  their 
own  little  moaning  of  discontent."  Yet,  one  cannot 
compare  the  eloquent  beauty  of  Synge's  poetic  idiom 
with  these  somewhat  forced  effects,  without  feeling 
that  the  latter  are  echoes  rather  than  the  expression 
of  an  original  sense  of  verbal  music. 

If  we  pass  over  the  misplaced  ingenuity  of  The 
Deliverer,  in  which  allegory  serves  to  illustrate  the 
fate  of  such  patriots  as  Parnell,  there  remain  two 
tragi-comedies  to  whose  unique  character  allusion  has 
already  been  made.  Just  as  Yeats  approached  the 
heroic  age  for  the  poetic  farce  of  The  Green  Helmet, 
Lady  Gregory  brings  out  the  comic  aspect  of  certain 
phases  of  Irish  history  hitherto  regarded  with  tragic 
seriousness.  The  Canavans  (190G)  is  an  extravaganza 
of  general,  rather  than  particular  import,  in  which 
are  burlesqued  the  difhculties  of  the  miller,  Canavan, 
who  tries  to  prove  himself  a  loyal  subject  of  Queen 
Elizabeth.    The   supposed   arrival   of   the   Queen   in 


LADY   GREGOKY  AND   WILLIAM   BOYLE        135 

Ireland  supplies  material  for  farcical  comedy  differing 
in  nothing,  except  its  historical  setting,  from  the 
author's  farces  of  contemporary  peasant  life.  On  the 
other  hand,  precise  and  bitter  satire  is  the  basis  of 
The  White  Cockade,  which  is  easily  first  in  order  of 
merit,  as  it  was  the  first  to  be  produced,  of  Lady 
Gregory's  historical  comedies.  It  was  played  at  the 
Abbey  Theatre  a  year  earlier  than  The  Canavans,  and 
was  her  second  play  to  appear  in  book  form.  Kincora 
and  The  White  Cockade  were  respectively  volumes  II  and 
VIII  of  the  Abbey  Theatre  Series,  and  were  issued 
during  1905,  the  first  year  of  its  publication. 

The  scene  is  laid  at  Duncannon,  where  King  James 
the  Second  retreated  after  the  Battle  of  the  Boyne. 
The  cowardly  King  has  planned  to  escape  on  a  French 
ship,  abandoning  the  brave  Sarsfield  and  the  men  who 
fought  with  him  against  William  of  Orange.  His 
craven  dependence  upon  Sarsfield  is  not  at  end,  how- 
ever, for  when  James  inadvertently  comes  upon  a  band 
of  Williamites  in  an  inn  where  he  takes  refuge,  it 
is  the  general  who  saves  him,  by  impersonating  the 
King,  and  even  winning  over  the  enemy  to  his  side. 
Unmoved  by  this  further  proof  of  bravery  and  loyalty, 
James  pursues  his  determination  to  flee  from  his  fol- 
lowers, and  induces  some  French  sailors  to  take  him 
on  board  concealed  in  a  barrel.  Again  he  falls  into 
the  hands  of  his  enemies,  for  the  soldiers  of  William 
open  this  very  cask  to  quench  their  thirst,  but  Sars- 
field persuades  them  to  let  so  miserable  a  creature  go 
free.  As  he  broods  over  the  betrayal  of  Ireland's  faith 
by  King  James,  Sarsfield  pulls  out  the  feathers  of  his 


136      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA' OF   IRELAND 

cockade,  counting  each  one  as  an  attribute  of  the 
monarch,  after  the  well-known  game  of  childhood, 
until  the  last  feather  falls  at  the  word  "thief."  James 
is  neither  king  nor  knave,  soldier  nor  sailor,  tinker  nor 
beggar  man  ;  he  is  the  thief,  who  has  robbed  the  Irish 
people  of  their  honor.  Nevertheless,  the  general  will 
continue  to  fight  for  those  ignominiously  forsaken  by 
the  King.  Equipped  with  a  fresh  cockade,  picked  up 
from  the  scattered  emblems  thrown  away  by  the  dis- 
illusioned soldiers  of  James,  Patrick  Sarsfield  sets  out 
to  champion  the  lost  cause. 

Such  a  treatment  of  one  of  the  most  delicate  and 
dangerous  subjects  in  Irish  history  indicates  that  Lady 
Gregory  is  able  to  bring  considerable  impartiality  to 
the  portrayal  of  national  subjects.  The  dramatists 
of  the  Irish  Theatre  have  broken  with  the  tradition 
which  demanded  the  patriotic  idealizations  of  melo- 
drama from  all  who  essayed  to  dramatize  the  history 
of  Ireland's  struggle  for  freedom.  We  shall  have 
occasion  to  cite  instances  of  this  tendency  in  the 
next  chapter.  While  crediting  the  author  of  Grania 
and  The  White  Cockade  with  the  originality  of  these 
experiments  in  folk  history,  we  must  not  overlook  the 
literary  quality  of  her  work.  From  that  point  of  view 
it  is  easier  to  approve  of  her  intentions  than  to  praise 
their  realization.  What  has  been  said  of  Grania  is 
true  of  folk-history  plays  as  a  whole.  Their  relation 
to  Synge  is  their  degree  of  excellence,  whether  they 
be  derivative  or  not.  The  Canavans  preceded  The 
Playboy,  yet  the  leading  motive  is  the  same;  Grania 
followed  Deirdre  of  the  Sorrows  and  bears  traces  of  its 


LADY   GREGORY  AND   WILLIAM   BOYLE        137 

influence.  Both  dramatists  studied  the  same  people, 
and  may  well  have  reached  an  identity  of  mood  be- 
cause of  this  common  origin  of  their  dramatic  world. 
But  precisely  this  community  of  material  involves 
contrasts  which  give  precedence  to  Synge,  and  make 
us  more  than  usually  sensible  of  Lady  Gregory's 
weaknesses. 

Her  own  judgment  in  this  matter  is  sound.  Speak- 
ing of  the  circumstances  which  led  her  to  essay  his- 
torical drama  instead  of  peasant  comedy  she  says : 
"Perhaps  I  ought  to  have  written  nothing  but  these 
short  comedies,  but  desire  for  experiment  is  like  fire 
in  the  blood."  Lady  Gregory  is  remembered  as  the 
author  of  The  Workhouse  Ward  and  The  Gaol  Gate 
rather  than  as  the  experimental  writer  of  folk  tragedies 
and  tragi-comedies.  Within  the  limitations  of  one 
short  act  she  can  obtain  effects  of  humor  and  pathos, 
denied  to  her  longer  plays,  which  have  secured  her 
place  in  the  affection  of  all  who  are  interested  in  the 
Irish  Theatre.  An  analysis  of  the  programs  of  the 
Abbey  Theatre  will  reveal  the  phenomenal  popularity 
of  Lady  Gregory,  whose  one-act  comedies  are  per- 
formed twice  and  three  times  as  often  as  those  of  any 
other  playwright.  There  is  something  excessive  in 
this  complacent  bidding  for  purely  popular  favor.  In 
the  season  of  1912,  for  example,  sixteen  performances 
of  The  Ruing  of  the  Moon  were  given,  as  against  three 
of  The  Playboy,  while  Thomas  Musketry  was  not 
presented  even  half  as  often  as  The  Workhouse  Ward. 
The  latter  was  surpassed,  in  its  turn,  by  the  ineffable 
Coats,  which  was  produced  on  no  less  than  twelve 


138      THE    CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

occasions  during  a  season  of  thirty  plays.  Granting 
the  charm  of  such  whimsical  drolleries  of  speech  and 
situation  as  Lady  Gregory  originally  conceived,  it  is 
impossible  to  reconcile  them  with  the  claims  of  literary 
drama.  Her  predominant  position  in  the  repertory  of 
the  Irish  Theatre  hardl}^  corresponds  to  what  is  per- 
manent in  her  contribution  to  Irish  literature. 


The  Comedies  of  William  Boyle 

Akin  to  that  of  Lady  Gregory  is  the  work  of  William 
Boyle,  whose  three  and  four-act  comedies  are  the 
counterpart  of  her  short  farces,  in  their  successful  and 
constant  appeal  to  popular  audiences.  It  was  not 
until  1905,  when  the  Abbey  Theatre  was  opened,  that 
Boyle's  name  was  associated  with  the  Dramatic  Move- 
ment. He  was  known  as  a  writer  of  verse  and  short 
stories  for  the  newspapers,  and  had  published  a  collec- 
tion of  peasant  studies  of  the  County  Louth,  a  Kish 
of  Brogues,  in  1899.  His  published  plays  are  four  in 
number,  and  were  published  and  produced  as  follows : 
The  Building  Fund  (1905),  The  Eloquent  Dempsey 
(1906),  The  Mineral  Workers  (1906),  and  Family, 
Failing  (1912).  In  1907  the  author  seceded  from  the 
Irish  Theatre  as  a  protest  against  Synge,  whose  Play- 
boy did  not  meet  with  his  approval.  He  eventually 
returned  to  give  his  Family  Failing,  and  has  since  en- 
joyed the  satisfaction  of  seeing  three  or  four  perform- 
ances of  that  play  in  each  season  to  one  of  Synge's 
masterpiece. 


LADY   GREGORY   AND   WILLIAM   BOYLE        139 

The  Building  Fund  is  the  only  work  which  calls  for 
more  than  passing  comment.  It  was  written  out  of 
that  knowledge  of  the  Louth  peasantry  which  was 
evident  in  the  author  long  before  he  was  attracted  to 
the  theatre  by  the  first  London  visit  of  the  Irish  Players. 
While  The  Eloquent  Dempsey  and  Family  Failing  are 
commonplace  caricature,  farcical  to  an  extreme  only 
found  in  a  few  of  Lady  Gregory's  latest  comedies,  The 
Building  Fund  is  a  sincere  picture  of  rural  manners. 
It  relates  how  Mrs.  Grogan,  a  grasping  old  woman, 
succeeds  in  defeating  her  equally  selfish  son  and  grand- 
daughter, on  the  pretext  of  performing  an  act  of  charity. 
When  two  farmers  call  to  ask  for  her  contribution  to 
the  building  fund  of  the  new  church,  she  and  her  son 
drive  them  away  empty-handed.  But  she  has  con- 
ceived a  plan  whereby  the  greedy  calculations  of  Shan 
and  Sheila  will  come  to  nought,  even  when  her  much- 
wished-for  death  takes  place.  When  the  farmers 
return  on  another  occasion,  she  contributes  to  their 
collection  by  making  a  will  leaving  her  money  to  the 
church.  The  plot  is  of  the  slightest,  yet,  so  excellent 
is  the  characterization  of  the  various  types,  and  so 
skillfully  is  the  dialogue  woven,  that  the  play  holds  the 
audience  and  the  reader  alike. 

Technically  the  later  plays  are  perhaps  more  perfect 
in  their  conformity  to  the  accepted  conventions  of  the 
"  well- written "  comedy.  Surprises  and  stage  effects 
are  plentiful  in  the  comedy  of  Jeremiah  Dempsey,  the 
opportunist  politician  whose  eloquence  betrays  him, 
and  in  The  Mineral  Workers,  with  its  account  of  the 
difficulties  experienced  by  an  Irish-American  when  he 


140      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

tries  to  arouse  the  energies  and  enterprise  of  a  com- 
munity whose  soil  is  rich  in  mineral  qualities.  Yet 
neither  can  be  compared  to  that  first  play  through  which 
one  feels  the  throb  of  real  life,  and  hears  the  voices  of 
authentic  human  beings.  The  variety  of  characters 
and  motives  is  beyond  the  dramatist's  control  in  The 
Mineral  Workers,  while  the  absence  of  every  dramatic 
element  renders  Famihj  Failhig  as  tiresome  as  its  arti- 
ficiality is  incredible.  The  degradation  of  a  powerful 
theme  was  never  more  striking  than  in  this  dull  farce, 
which  might  have  been  a  great  comedy.  In  the  hands 
of  a  writer  who  could  exploit  the  dramatic  quality  of 
the  theme,  —  the  demoralizing  effect  of  laziness  and 
improvidence  upon  all  who  are  subjected  to  their 
influence,  —  a  fine  play  would  have  resulted.  As  it 
is  we  must  conclude  that  William  Boyle  had  given  his 
best  when  the  early  enthusiasm  of  the  Fay's  organ- 
ization stirred  him  to  Vvrite  The  Building  Fund. 

He  has  been  encouraged  to  cater  for  the  facile  success 
of  immediate  popularity,  which  he  and  Lady  Gregory 
alone,  of  all  the  earlier  dramatists,  share  between  them. 
The  effect  has  been  a  gradual  deterioration  in  the 
quality  of  the  plays  presented  at  the  Abbey  Theatre, 
accompanied  by  a  corresponding  decline  in  the  nature 
of  the  audiences.  Instead  of  educating  public  taste, 
everything  is  done  to  encourage  people  who  come  to  be 
amused  by  an  unusual  spectacle,  to  get  a  change  from 
the  too  familiar  pleasures  of  the  English  drawing-room 
play  and  the  musical  comedies,  which  are  the  main 
part  of  England's  contribution  to  the  Irish  stage. 
Comic  effects  are  secured  by  decking  out  imbeciles 


LADY   GREGORY  AND   WILLIAM   BOYLE        141 

and  brutes  in  the  shreds  and  tatters  of  peasant  speech, 
and  the  superficial  violence  of  melodrama  replaces  the 
drama  of  character,  which  can  only  come  from  an 
inner  life.  There  are  still  new  dramatists,  however, 
worthy  of  the  best  traditions  of  the  National  Theatre, 
as  we  shall  see  in  the  following  chapter. 


CHAPTER  VII 
Later  Playwrights 

The  reproaches  made  by  competent  critics  against 
certain  recent  tendencies  of  the  National  Theatre  are 
based  mainly  upon  two  points,  the  comparative  or 
total  neglect  of  the  more  serious  writers,  and  the  too 
frequent  production  of  the  same  plays,  most  of  which 
have  only  the  most  ephemeral  interest.  It  seemed  as 
if  the  dramatists  subsequent  to  1907,  the  year  of  The 
Playboy,  were  to  enjoy  prominence  not  only  at  the 
expense  of  their  predecessors,  but  also  to  the  detri- 
ment of  the  artistic  standards  and  traditions  of  the 
Dramatic  Movement.  In  190S  the  Abbey  Theatre 
had  become  notorious  and  famous,  and  the  date  may 
be  said  to  have  marked  the  advent  of  a  third  phase  in 
the  history  of  the  Revival.  Samhain,  the  organ  of  the 
Theatre,  ceased  to  appear,  and,  by  a  strange  coinci- 
dence, the  principles  and  theories  for  which  it  stood 
became  perceptibly  less  noticeable  in  the  work  of  the 
new  playwrights. 

At  the  same  time  the  withdrawal  of  Miss  Horniman's 
subsidy  made  it  difficult  to  proceed  with  that  disregard 
for  financial  considerations  which  had  been  a  source 
of  much  strength.    Dramatists  were  given  preference 

142 


LATER   PLAYWRIGHTS  143 

when  they  combined  a  sufficient  appearance  of  artistic 
worth  with  the  quaUfications  likely  to  react  favorably 
upon  the  receipts.  Nevertheless,  as  a  result  of  con- 
siderable criticism  and  controversy  in  the  Irish  press, 
a  compromise  was  reached.  New  plays  were  pro- 
duced instead  of  the  eternal  comedies  of  Lady  Gregory 
and  William  Boyle,  and  the  melodramas  of  W.  F. 
Casey,  Lennox  Robinson,  and  T.  C.  Murray  made 
way  for  the  works  of  men  who  had  prior  claims  upon 
the  attention  of  the  public.  The  most  remarkable 
writer  thus  saved  from  the  oblivion  which  threatened 
him  was  George  Fitzmaurice,  whose  plays  were  re- 
stored to  the  repertory  of  the  Abbey  Theatre  a  couple 
of  years  ago. 

1 

George  Fitzmaurice 

When  The  Country  Dressmaker  was  revived  in  1912, 
the  author  had  faded  almost  completely  from  the 
memory  of  all  but  the  few  who  recognized  the  promise 
of  the  young  dramatist  when  that  play  introduced  him 
in  1907.  In  1908  George  Fitzmaurice  followed  up  his 
first  contribution  with  a  second  of  slighter  texture. 
The  Pie-dish.  This  curious  little  piece  in  one  act, 
which  failed  to  secure  the  sympathies  of  an  audience 
already  in  search  of  digestive  amusement,  was  soon 
forgotten  on  the  accession  of  the  new  regime  of  imita- 
tive peasant  plaj^Tights.  It  is  not  surprising,  there- 
fore, that  he  should  have  waited  for  seven  years  before 
publishing  his  first  play.  Meanwhile,  in  spite  of  dis- 
couragement, Fitzmaurice  had  not  been  idle.     In  1914 


144      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

The  Country  Dressmaker  had  scarcely  appeared,  when 
it  was  supplemented  by  a  volume  entitled  Five  Plays, 
containing  The  Moonlighter,  The  Magic  Glasses,  and 
The  Dandy  Dolls,  as  well  as  the  two  plays  already 
mentioned. 

As  is  the  case  in  the  best  of  our  folk  drama,  The 
Country  Dressmaker  is  contrived  out  of  the  simplest 
elements.  Julia  Shea,  the  sentimental  dressmaker,  has 
remained  faithful  through  many  years  to  Pats  Connor, 
who  went  off  to  the  United  States  to  make  his  fortune. 
Julia  is  addicted  to  romantic  fiction  and  jealously 
nurses  her  love  for  the  absent  Pats,  whom  she  endows 
with  all  the  virtues  of  the  novelette  hero.  One  day 
Connor  arrives  unexpectedly  and  learns,  while  asking 
for  news  of  the  old  folk,  how  the  dressmaker  has 
waited  for  him.  His  astonishment  is  great,  for  he  has 
never  communicated  with  her,  and  was  married  in 
America  without  a  thought  for  what  he  remembered 
as  a  boy  and  girl  love  affair.  Then  he  is  told  how 
Julia  has  been  fooled  into  believing  that  he  loves  her 
by  hearing  passages  read  out  from  letters  which  were 
never  written.  Connor  is  touched  by  this  cruel  trick 
and  tries  to  live  up  to  the  part  attributed  to  him,  but  not 
very  successfully,  as  it  seems  to  the  romantic  mind  of 
Julia,  who  contrasts  his  changed  appearance  with  the 
conditions  portrayed  in  the  novels.  The  intrigues  of  a 
neighbor  with  marriageable  daughters  almost  ruin  the 
prospects  of  Julia's  marriage,  but  in  the  end  she  is 
reconciled  to  Pats  Connor,  and  turns,  with  great  natural 
dignity,  from  the  imaginary  world  of  fiction  to  accept 
the  realities  of  everyday  life. 


LATER   PLAYWRIGHTS  145 

The  play  is  packed  with  observation,  and  is  brilliantly 
written,  in  an  idiom  rich  with  quaint  terms  and  delec- 
table words,  which,  nevertheless,  diflFers  fundamentally 
from  the  stereotyped  "  Kiltartanese "  and  its  variants, 
to  which  so  many  writers  have  abandoned  themselves. 
Here  and  there  one  is  shocked  by  gross  caricature, 
whose  defects  are  emphasized  by  the  faithful  char- 
acterization of  most  of  the  figures  in  this  perfect 
comedy  of  rural  manners.  Seldom  has  a  first  play 
shown  such  qualities  of  style  and  dramatic  technique  as 
The  Country  Dressmaker.  The  great  development  of  the 
author's  talent  during  the  seven  years  which  followed 
it  did  not  surprise  those  who  read  Five  Plays  with  a 
precise  impression  of  Fitzmaurice's  debut.  For  The 
Pie-dish  gave  a  hint  of  that  imaginative  power  which  we 
shall  find  to  be  the  complement  of  the  author's  folk- 
realism.  It  dealt  with  the  culminating  moment  in 
the  struggle  of  an  old  man  to  obtain  the  satisfaction  of 
his  artistic  instinct.  Leum  Donoghue  has  worked  for 
years  molding  a  pie-dish,  a  work  in  which  the  artist 
that  is  in  him  has  found  refuge  from  the  incomprehen- 
sion of  his  humble  surroundings.  He  is  dying,  and 
in  fitful  bursts  of  energy  and  consciousness  demands  to 
be  allowed  to  finish  his  task.  His  children  are  more 
concerned  to  have  the  priest  administer  the  last  sacra- 
ments, but  Leum  craves  only  time  to  achieve  his  little 
masterpiece.  The  priest  appeals  to  him  in  vain  to 
prepare  for  the  end,  the  artist  refuses  to  surrender^  and 
appeals  to  the  devil,  in  default  of  God,  to  grant  hun 
the  necessary  respite.  He  will  sell  his  soul  for  time  in 
which  to  complete  the  pie-dish,  and  as  he  dies,  with  the 


146      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

blasphemy  on  his  Hps,  his  work  falls  from  his  hand  and 
is  shattered.  Father  Troy  pronounces  him  damned, 
but  his  children  are  convinced  that  the  idealism  of  their 
father  will  meet  with  a  better  fate. 

The  Moonlighter  is  a  more  conventional  type  of  play, 
and  belongs  to  the  same  order  as  The  Country  Dress- 
maker, although  its  four  acts  are  given  over  to  tragedy 
rather  than  to  comedy.  As  the  title  itself  explains,  the 
scene  takes  place  during  the  troubled  times  of  the  agra- 
rian revolution  in  Ireland.  Peter  Guerin  is  a  splendid 
type  of  the  old  Fenian,  whose  ardor  is  strong,  though 
years  have  taught  him  prudence  and  limited  his  activity. 
The  district  is  full  of  young  fellows  who  are  arming  and 
training  against  the  day  when  they  must  fight  for  their 
rights  and  liberties.  Eugene,  his  son,  is  one  of  the  most 
enthusiastic  of  the  hotheads,  whose  constant  parade 
of  nationality  arouses  the  skepticism  of  Guerin.  The 
father  opposes  his  son's  ambition  to  join  in  a  moon- 
lighting expedition  against  a  neighboring  farmer,  and 
Eugene  leaves  home  in  defiance  of  Guerin's  wishes. 
When  he  next  comes  upon  the  scene,  he  has  been  away 
in  the  city  for  a  year,  having  fled  at  the  last  moment 
before  the  consequences  of  his  desire  to  be  a  moon- 
lighter. Meanwhile  outrages  have  been  taking  place, 
and  his  erstwhile  companions  are  in  conflict  with  the 
police.  Eugene,  however,  has  lost  his  sympathy  with 
the  methods  of  physical  violence;  all  the  claptrap 
which  he  used  to  utter  for  the  benefit  of  his  father  has 
evaporated.  The  real  man  is  revealed  a  craven  time- 
server,  without  a  spark  of  patriotic  energy.  When  the 
moonlighters  are  pursued  by  the  police,  and  one  comes 


LATER   PLAYWRIGHTS  147 

like  a  hunted  animal  to  Guerin's  house,  Eugene  has 
nothing  but  cautious  advice  to  offer.  The  old  Fenian's 
spirit,  however,  is  aroused,  he  rushes  out  to  face  the 
rifles  of  the  police  in  an  attempt  to  aid  a  young  friend, 
whose  courage  has  convinced  Guerin  that  all  the  young 
men  are  not  like  Eugene,  and  that  the  soul  of  revolt 
still  lives  in  a  new  generation.  He  is  killed  with  the 
others,  and  Eugene  is  left  to  meet  the  contempt  of  his 
friend  and  family. 

Some  of  the  typical  violence  of  the  new  conventional 
peasant  melodrama  mars  The  Moonlighter,  but  Fitz- 
maurice  is  too  good  a  craftsman  to  succumb  to  mere 
formulae.  He  has  made  a  penetrating  study  of  the 
conditions  which  breed  violence  in  peasant  Ireland, 
and  he  depicts  the  knaves  and  braggarts  with  the  same 
care  as  the  patriotic  idealists.  Peter  Guerin  is  a 
remarkable  characterization,  and  though  he  necessarily 
has  all  the  sympathy  of  an  Irish  audience,  he  must  be 
recognized  as  a  fine  psychological  portrait,  equaled, 
perhaps,  by  Eugene.  The  play  shows  a  distinct  ad- 
vance upon  The  Country  Dressmaker  in  the  contrivance 
and  the  manifestations  of  incident.  In  spite  of  its 
greater  length,  the  interest  is  sustained  to  a  moving 
climax. 

Together  with  an  increasing  technical  skill,  Fitz- 
maurice  shows  an  ever  greater  command  of  picturesque 
and  forcible  idiom,  which  finds  its  maximum  expression 
in  The  Magic  Glasses  and  The  Dandy  Dolls.  These 
two  plays  are  in  one  act,  and  have  neither  the  style  nor 
the  substance  which  would  repay  an  attempt  to  sum- 
marize them.    The  former  piece  is  a  realistic  fantasy, 


148      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

which  relates  to  the  world  in  which  we  live,  but  the 
latter  is  an  exercise  of  pure  fancy,  situated  beyond 
the  limitations  of  human  experience.  The  "magic 
glasses",  which  have  bemused  Jaymony  Shanahan,  be- 
long to  the  same  order  as  the  "dandy  dolls"  made  by 
Roger  Carmody,  and  both  plays  are  the  narrative  of 
a  wildly  grotesque  struggle  against  the  forces  of  the 
supernatural.  Whereas  the  witch-doctor  who  pro- 
fesses to  cure  Jaymony  is  a  humorous  idealization  of 
the  eternal  charlatan,  the  Grey  Man  and  Hag's  Son 
who  steal  the  windpipes  from  the  throats  of  Carmody's 
dolls  are  creatures  of  the  same  race  as  the  Trolls  of 
Ibsen.  There  is  also  a  suggestion  of  the  Norwegian 
poet  in  The  Magic  Glasses,  where  the  loft  to  which 
Jaymony  retires  in  order  to  enjoy  the  fairy  music 
reminds  us  of  the  garret  in  The  Wild  Duck,  within  whose 
shelter  the  old  grandfather  was  transported  to  a  world 
of  the  imagination.  Similarly  Shanahan  is  lured  by 
the  magic  glasses,  which  bring  him  the  oblivion  of 
humdrum  affairs  which  he  desires. 

In  the  domain  of  pure  fantasy  George  Fitzmaurice 
has  only  one  rival,  Lord  Dunsany,  while  in  the  vigor 
and  exuberance  of  his  peasant  speech  he  is  surpassed 
by  Synge,  but  unequaled  by  any  other  of  the  Irish 
dramatists.  There  is  none  of  the  poetry  of  Synge's 
language  in  Fitzmaurice's  plays,  but  there  is  the 
same  wealth  of  virile  and  vivid  phrasing,  in  which  every 
speech  is  "as  fully  flavoured  as  a  nut  or  apple",  to 
quote  the  preface  to  The  Playboy.  The  "joyless  and 
pallid  words",  which  Synge  condemned,  find  no  place 
in  what  Fitzmaurice  has  written,  though  he  never  uses 


LATER  PLAYWRIGHTS  149 

an  expression  traceable  to  any  of  his  predecessors. 
The  Anglo-Irish  idiom  as  he  employs  it  offers  no  anal- 
ogies either  with  Hyde  and  Synge  or  Lady  Gregory, 
beyond  the  fact  of  their  common  source  in  Gaelic.  He 
has  made  of  peasant  speech  an  original  creation  which, 
if  not  the  potent  instrument  of  Synge,  is  measurably 
finer  than  the  monotonous  "  Kiltartanese "  and  its 
minor  variants,  in  vogue  with  the  later  playwrights. 
George  Fitzmaurice  has,  therefore,  imagination  and 
style  of  a  sufficiently  personal  quality  to  give  him  rank 
as  the  greatest  folk-dramatist  since  the  death  of  J.  M. 
Synge,  and  the  practical  withdrawal  of  Colum's  plays 
from  the  current  repertory  of  the  Abbey  Theatre. 


Seumas  O'Kelly 

If  George  Fitzmaurice  were  offered  as  an  example 
of  a  writer  first  encouraged,  and  then  neglected,  by 
the  directors  of  the  National  Theatre,  Seumas  O'Kelly 
is  an  instance  of  the  contrary,  his  work  having  been 
recognized  elsewhere  before  it  found  acceptance  in 
that  quarter.  His  first  four  plays,  The  Matchmakers, 
The  Stranger,  The  Shuiler's  Child,  and  The  Homecoming 
were  all  produced  by  an  amateur  organization  called 
"The  Theatre  of  Ireland"  before  the  directors  of  the 
Abbey  Theatre  realized  his  merits.  The  Matchmakers 
appeared  in  book  form  in  1908,  and  was  reissued  in 
1912,  with  the  two  other  "one-acters",  under  the 
title.  Three  Plays.  Meanwhile  The  Shuiler's  Child 
had  been  published  in  1909,  and  the  following  year  it 


150      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

became  part  of  the  repertory  of  the  Irish  Players, 
eighteen  months  after  its  first  production.  It  was  for 
some  years  the  only  work  of  Seumas  O' Kelly  played 
by  them,  until  he  wrote  The  Bribe,  which  they  per- 
formed in  1913.  One  cannot  refrain  from  wondering 
why  none  of  his  shorter  pieces  has  been  taken  to  relieve 
the  monotony  of  repeated  performances  of  the  same 
curtain-raisers,  necessitated  by  the  requirements  of 
the  Abbey  Theatre  programs.  Although  they  do  not 
call  for  detailed  exposition.  The  Stranger  and  The 
Homecoming  are  well  entitled  to  consideration,  dealing, 
as  they  do,  with  situations  whose  appeal  to  Irish  au- 
diences is  certain. 

It  is  strange  that  a  work  of  such  merit  as  The  Shmler's 
Child  should  so  long  escape  the  attention  of  W.  B.  Yeats 
and  Lady  Gregory,  for,  since  they  adopted  it,  no  doubt 
has  ever  arisen  as  to  the  belated  wisdom  of  their  choice. 
The  theme  is  one  of  renunciation,  and  lends  itself  to 
situations  of  great  dramatic  intensity,  which  only  so 
talented  an  actress  as  Miss  Maire  nic  Shiubhlaigh  could 
have  brought  out  adequately.  Moll  Woods,  the  shuiler, 
or  tramp,  singing  from  door  to  door,  happens  upon  the 
cottage  of  the  O'Heas,  a  childless  couple  who  have 
adopted  a  little  boy  from  the  neighboring  poorhouse. 
Moll  at  once  recognizes  the  child  as  Phil,  her  son,  whom 
she  was  obliged  to  abandon  to  public  charity,  and  she 
longs  to  take  him  back.  But  the  adopted  parents  have 
grown  to  love  the  youngster  as  their  owti,  and  are  un- 
willing to  part  with  him.  The  two  women,  however, 
find  themselves  suddenly  united  by  the  arrival  of  an 
inspector  sent  out  by  the  poorhouse  authorities  to  see 


LATER   PLAYWRIGHTS  151 

that  the  children  of  the  institution  are  being  well 
cared  for  by  their  foster  parents.  This  official  is  not 
satisfied  with  Mrs.  O'Hea's  care  of  Phil,  and  threatens 
to  remove  the  child.  Then  the  shuiler,  sinking  her 
personal  feelings,  determines  to  save  her  son  from  such 
a  fate. 

On  her  return  to  the  poorhouse  she  demands  admit- 
tance, and  then  claims  the  child  whom  she  previously 
deserted.  The  authorities  are  legally  bound  to  comply 
with  this  request,  but  once  her  son  is  restored  to  her, 
Moll  Woods  takes  to  the  roads  again,  and  comes  back 
to  the  house  of  the  O'Heas.  The  latter  fear  that  the 
child  is  to  accompany  his  mother  in  her  vagabondage, 
and  endeavor  to  find  employment  for  Moll,  so  that 
even  if  the  boy  is  torn  from  them,  he  will  be  close  at 
hand  and  well  cared  for.  At  this  juncture  it  transpires 
that  the  police  have  come  to  arrest  the  mother  for 
having  deserted  her  child.  Then  the  shuiler 's  motives 
are  understood ;  she  has  formally  admitted  her  relation 
to  the  boy  in  order  to  claim  the  sole  right  to  dispose  of 
him.  Thereby  she  saves  him  from  the  interference  of 
the  authorities,  but  at  the  same  time  places  herself 
within  the  reach  of  the  law  on  the  old  charge  of  deser- 
tion. All  her  plans  for  regeneration  are  ruined,  she 
sacrifices  both  her  own  prospects  and  the  possession 
of  her  child,  in  order  to  insure  his  future  in  a  good 
home.  As  the  unfortunate  woman  stumbles  out  of  the 
cottage,  her  hopeless  prospects  are  clear  to  all  who  fore- 
see her  ultimate  release  from  prison  and  the  drunkenness 
and  vagabondage  to  which  remorse  and  misery  will 
condemn  her.     As  portrayed  by  Miss  Maire  nic  Shiubh- 


152      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

laigh,  the  tragic  figure  of  Moll  Woods  was  one  of  the 
most  memorable  in  the  history  of  the  Irish  Theatre. 

The  Bribe  conforms  more  nearly  to  the  standard 
type  of  "Abbey  play",  though  Seumas  O'Kelly  has  a 
talent  of  sufiicient  strength  and  individuality  to  save 
him  from  the  banalities  of  the  average  peasant  melo- 
dramatist.  His  subject  is  the  corruptness  of  domestic 
politics,  a  much  needed  variation  from  the  usual  course 
of  dramatizing  the  political  struggle  between  England 
and  Ireland.  Not  since  the  days  of  the  Literary 
Theatre  had  there  been  a  serious  play  dealing  with 
this  question,  except  an  unpublished  satire  of  municipal 
life  by  Fred  Ryan,  The  Laying  of  the  Foundation,  which 
the  Fays  produced  in  1902.  As  a  rule  political  dis- 
honesty has  furnished  the  material  of  comedy. 

There  is  no  comedy  in  this  somber  picture  of  pro- 
vincial Ireland,  whose  central  figure  is  John  Kirwan, 
the  chairman  of  the  Garrymore  Board  of  Guardians. 
It  is  the  duty  of  this  Board  to  elect  a  medical  ofiicer.for 
the  district,  and  all  the  usual  methods  of  influencing 
votes  are  brought  to  bear  upon  the  members.  Kirwan 
has  resisted  them  all,  even  including  the  discreet  offer 
of  a  cheque  which  would  be  of  great  help  to  him,  a 
struggling  shopkeeper.  Mrs.  Kirwan  is  incensed  at 
his  refusal  to  play  the  game  of  politics  to  his  own  ad- 
vantage, and  urges  various  reasons  why  he  should  vote 
for  Dr.  O'Connor,  rather  than  for  Diamond,  whom  he 
personally  esteems  as  the  better  candidate.  Kirwan 
is  unmoved  by  her  arguments  until  he  learns  that  she 
has  borrowed  a  sum  of  money  which  O'Connor's  prof- 
fered bribe  would  pay.      In  a  moment  of  panic  he 


LATER   PLAYWRIGHTS  153 

pockets  the  bribe,  and  when  the  Board  meets,  his 
deciding  vote  goes  against  his  old  friend  Dr.  Diamond, 
who  is  too  poor  to  buy  support.  Subsequently  he 
pays  for  his  dishonesty  with  the  life  of  Mrs.  Kirwan 
and  her  baby,  who  are  lost  through  the  incompetence 
of  Dr.  O'Connor,  called  in  during  the  illness  of  the 
family  physician. 

The  denouement  is  rather  obvious,  but  it  is  the  only 
comparatively  weak  point  in  the  play,  which  excels 
in  the  sober  veracity  of  its  uncompromising  analysis 
of  provincial  manners,  political  and  social.  The  second 
act,  which  takes  place  in  the  board-room  of  the 
Guardians,  is  well  devised  to  reveal  the  sordid  vulgarity 
of  those  upon  whom  the  welfare  of  many  a  community 
depends.  The  specific  case  chosen  by  Seumas  O'Kelly 
is  perhaps  the  most  typical,  for  such  appointments  as 
that  of  the  dispensary  doctor  are  notoriously  corrupt 
in  Ireland.  Indeed,  The  Bribe,  with  its  interrelation  of 
the  numerous  influences  for  evil  in  our  country  towns, 
is  a  valuable  document  for  all  Irishmen.  It  is,  at  the 
same  time,  a  dramatic  play,  which  loses  nothing  by 
its  careful  respect  for  reality,  but  rather  gains,  on  com- 
parison with  the  similar  attempts  of  Lennox  Robinson, 
T.  C.  Murray,  and  R.  J.  Ray. 

3 

Lord  Dunsany 

Before  examining  the  work  of  these  representatives 
of  popularity,  we  must  glance  at  a  dramatist  of  dis- 
tinction, whom  the  Abbey  Theatre  has  had  the  honor 


154      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

of  introducing  to  the  English-speaking  world.  Next 
to  his  encouragement  of  Synge,  the  incident  most  to 
the  credit  of  Yeats's  management  of  the  Irish  Theatre 
was  his  immediate  recognition  of  Dunsany's  dramatic 
genius.  Prior  to  1909,  when  The  Glittering  Gate  was 
produced,  Dunsany  was  known  to  a  limited  public  as 
the  author  of  three  remarkable  works  of  fantasy, 
The  Gods  of  Pegana  (1905),  Time  and  the  Gods  (1906), 
and  The  Sivord  of  WeUeran  (1908).  In  these  he  set 
forth  that  strange  theogony  which  gave  its  title  to 
the  first,  and  whose  mythology  was  elaborated  in  the 
second  and  third  volumes.  Instead  of  seeking  his 
material  in  the  legendary  lore  of  his  country,  Dunsany 
invented  his  own  myths  and  legends  out  of  a  wealth 
of  original  fancy  unique  in  our  time.  Not  content 
with  having  created  a  veritable  hierarchy  of  gods  to 
whom  he  intrusted  the  molding  of  cosmic  destinies, 
the  author  made  free  use  of  the  fabulous  Orient  which  is 
the  scene  of  his  dramas,  and  whose  description  gives 
such  poetic  color  to  his  prose. 

Having  narrated  the  adventures  of  the  deities  of 
Pegana,  and  interpreted  the  ceaseless,  mysterious 
struggle  of  the  world  against  the  onslaught  of  time 
and  change,  Dunsany  was  far  from  exhausting  his 
imaginative  vein.  In  A  Dreamer's  Tales  (1910),  The 
Book  of  Wonder  (1912),  and  Fifty-one  Tales  (1915), 
he  has  continued  to  exercise  his  rare  vision  of  a  world 
none  the  less  weird  because  peopled  by  men  rather 
than  by  gods.  These  collections  of  short  stories  and 
fables  possess  all  the  qualities  of  the  earlier  works,  but 
to  the  wonder  and  color  of  the  mythological  invention 


LATER   PLAYWRIGHTS  155 

is  added  an  element  of  the  grotesque  and  horrible, 
unsurpassed  by  Poe  and  Ambrose  Bierce  at  their  best. 
A  certain  triviality  mars  many  pages  of  Fifty-one  Tales, 
but  the  two  preceding  volumes  are  almost  perfect  in 
their  harmonious  combination  of  every  element  of  the 
fantastic  imagination.  The  superiority  of  Lord  Dun- 
sany  is  best  appreciated  when  A  Dreamer's  Tales  is 
compared  with  the  stories  of  Mr.  Arthur  Machen  and 
Mr.  Algernon  Blackwood,  the  only  writers  of  to-day 
who  have  tried  to  exploit  the  same  field. 

The  plays  of  Dunsany  were  collected  in  1914  under 
the  commonplace  title.  Five  Plays,  which  included  in 
order  of  their  production  TJie  Glittering  Gate,  King 
Argimenes,  The  Gods  of  the  Mountain,  The  Golden  Doom, 
and  The  Lost  Silk  Hat.  Since  these  were  arranged 
for  publication,  two  others  have  been  produced,  The 
Tents  of  the  Arabs,  in  Paris  in  1914,  and  A  Night  at 
the  Inn,  which  had  its  premiere  in  New  York  in  April, 
1915.  The  text  of  the  latter  has  not  yet  been  published, 
but  the  former  appeared  in  The  Smart  Set,  w^hose  editors 
have  done  so  much  to  make  Dunsany  familiar  to  the 
American  public.  All  are  written  out  of  the  author's 
earlier  mood,  except  The  Glittering  Gate  and  The  Lost 
Silk  Hat,  which  come  rather  within  the  scope  of  his 
last  volume  of  stories. 

^Vlien  The  Glittering  Gate  was  produced  at  the  Abbey 
Theatre  in  1909,  it  was  evident  that  a  new  force  had 
come  into  the  Dramatic  Movement.  The  little  play 
was  simply  a  dialogue,  but  so  original  and  unusual  in 
conception  that  it  impressed  the  audience  more  than 
perhaps  a  substantial  drama  would  have  done.    Two 


156      THE   CONTEMPORAEY   DRAMA   OF  IRELAND 

burglars,  "both  dead",  stand  before  the  great  door  of 
heaven,  and  by  symbol  and  conversation  the  dramatist 
expounds  their  metaphysical  beliefs.  Their  aspirations 
are  exteriorized  in  the  constantly  descending  beer 
bottles  which  they  eagerly  uncork,  only  to  find  them 
empty.  Disappointment  spurs  them  to  reflections 
upon  deity  in  general,  and  the  failure  of  the  door  to 
open  arouses  their  professional  pride.  After  careful 
examination,  they  decide  to  apply  their  skill,  and  to 
force  an  entry  into  paradise.  When  the  gates  swing 
open,  however,  the  burglars  see  nothing  correspond- 
ing to  their  anticipation  of  heaven,  only  stars, 
"blooming  great  stars."  With  mocking  laughter 
sounding  in  their  ears,  they  conclude  that  such 
tricks  are  typical  of  malign  providence,  and  that 
there  is  no  heaven. 

Two  years  later  this  curtain-raiser  was  followed  by 
Dunsany's  second  play,  King  Argimenes  and  the  Un- 
known Warrior.  The  two  acts  of  King  Argimenes 
gave  the  true  measure  of  his  worth  as  a  dramatist,  and 
prepared  the  way  for  the  succeeding  dramas  of  the  East. 
The  enslaved  King,  Argimenes,  is  gnawing  bones  in 
the  work-fields  of  King  Darniak,  together  with  other 
slaves.  Their  immediate  desires  are  concentrated  upon 
obtaining  a  substantial  bone  to  satisfy  their  hunger. 
The  opening  lines  of  the  play  are  startling : 

King  Argimenes    This  is  a  good  bone;   there  is  juice 

in  this  bone. 
Zarb  I  wish  I  were  you,  Argimenes. 

King  Argimenes    I  am  not  to  be  envied  any  longer.     I 

have  eaten  up  my  bone. 


LATER   PLAYWRIGHTS  157 

But  even  though  hungry,  Argimenes  is  still  to  be 
envied  for  his  inner  life,  filled  with  memories  of  former 
grandeur  and  domination.  He  is  thus  endowed  with 
an  advantage  over  his  fellow-slaves  which  they  recog- 
nize ;  he  is  of  the  master  class.  When  he  finds  a  sword 
in  the  field,  and  is  thereby  possessed  of  the  symbol 
of  power,  he  is  impelled  to  impose  his  rank.  His 
kingship  is  accepted  by  the  others,  who  follow  him  and 
overthrow  their  common  oppressor.  The  finding  of 
the  sword  acquires  the  dignity  of  a  miracle,  and  Argi- 
menes erects  a  temple  to  the  Unknown  Warrior  on  the 
spot  where  his  weapon  was  found. 

As  effective  as  the  first  words  of  King  Argimenes  is 
the  closing  scene  of  the  play.  The  death  of  King  Dar- 
niak's  dog  is  announced,  an  animal  whose  good  food 
had  long  been  a  source  of  envy  among  the  slaves. 
While  sick,  he  had  given  rise  to  much  speculation  among 
them  as  to  whether  his  body  would  fall  to  their  portion. 
Greatly  they  feared  lest  a  lingering  death  deprive  his 
bones  of  flesh.  Great  events  have  happened  since  such 
thoughts  troubled  the  mind  of  Argimenes,  but  when 
the  dog  dies,  the  slave  memory  is  still  strong : 

King  Argimenes  and  his  men  (savagely  and  hungrily) 

Bones ! 
King  Argimenes  (remembering  what  has  happened  and 

where  he  is)  Let  him  be  buried  with  the  late  King. 
Zarb  (in  voice  of  protest)  Majesty! 

Lord  Dunsany's  longest  and  best  drama  is  The  Gods 
of  the  Mountain,  whose  theme  is  again  in  the  truest 
vein  of  the  author  who  invented  the  theogony  of  Pegana. 
Six  beggars  and  a  thief  impersonate  the  seven  gods  of 


158      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

Marma,  "carved  out  of  green  jade",  who  sit  upon  the 
mountain  top,  "  with  their  right  elbows  resting  on  their 
left  hand,  the  right  forefinger  pointing  upwards."  The 
portrayal  of  these  adventurers  is  perfect  in  the  ease 
with  which  their  mentality  is  developed,  their  cunning 
aroused,  and  its  effects  unrolled  before  us.  Extrava- 
gant though  it  be,  the  situation  convinces  the  imagina- 
tion carried  away  by  the  excitement  of  the  enterprise, 
the  pose  of  the  beggars  in  the  attitude  of  the  gods,  and 
the  gradual  belief  of  the  people  in  the  imposture.  The 
pretenders  are  afraid  that  the  jade  deities  will  be  found 
in  their  accustomed  place,  but  their  uneasiness  in- 
creases when  it  is  discovered  that  the  green  gods  have 
left  their  site  on  the  mountain.  They  do  not  know 
whether  to  regard  this  discovery  as  a  sign  of  popular 
credulity,  and  a  proof  of  their  own  success.  Strange 
phenomena  are  witnessed  at  night,  and  it  is  evident  that 
the  gods  are  present.  As  one  man  says :  "  When  we 
see  rock  walking  it  is  terrible  ....  rock  should  not 
walk.  When  children  see  it,  they  do  not  understand. 
Rock  should  not  walk  in  the  evening." 

Then  the  beggars  are  seriously  disturbed,  but  the 
people  have  lost  all  their  doubts  and  believe  the  gods 
have  come  to  them.  In  truth,  they  have  descended 
upon  the  city  to  punish  the  impostors.  It  is  a  wonder- 
ful climax  when  the  stone  beings  enter,  point  their 
fingers  at  the  beggars,  and  petrify  them  in  the  tradi- 
tional attitude  of  the  gods.  W^hen  the  w^orshippers  ar- 
rive and  find  the  beggars  are  really  of  stone,  they  are 
convinced  of  divinity  and  reproach  themselves  with  their 
former  skepticism.     The  irony  of  this  conclusion  is 


LATER   PLAYWRIGHTS  159 

delightful,  and  typical  of  the  whimsical  humor  of  Lord 
Dunsany.  It  is  significant  that  his  greatest  success 
should  have  been  achieved  by  the  play  nearest  to  his 
best  narrative  writing.  Compressed  to  meet  the  exigen- 
cies of  the  theatre,  The  Gods  of  the  Mountain  contains 
the  quintessence  of  Dunsany. 

In  The  Golden  Doom  the  dramatist  returned  to  the 
one-act  form,  which  is,  indeed,  sufficient  for  the  rather 
tenuous  subject  of  the  play.  A  child's  rhyme  scribbled 
with  a  piece  of  gold  on  the  King's  door  brings  all  the 
prophets  and  wise  men  to  interpret  what  they  believe 
to  be  a  message  from  the  gods.  Two  children  wrote 
the  lines  innocently  while  waiting  at  the  door  to  beg 
for  a  hoop,  but  the  soothsayers  read  into  the  words  the 
impending  doom  of  their  master,  who  leaves  his  crown 
and  scepter  as  an  offering  to  appease  the  gods.  In  the 
evening  the  children  return,  and  finding  a  golden  hoop 
and  stick,  take  them  in  the  belief  that  their  prayer  for 
these  playthings  has  been  answered.  When  the  King 
and  his  advisers  observe  the  disappearance  of  their 
sacrificial  offerings,  they  accept  the  omen  as  a  sign 
that  the  gods  are  pleased,  and  will  stay  the  doom  which 
was  to  fall  upon  them.  Thus  wisdom  and  innocence 
are  equally  satisfied  by  an  occasion  propitious  to  the 
exercise  of  their  respective  credulities. 

The  fable  is  charming,  but  thoroughly  Yeatslan  in 
its  lack  of  specifically  dramatic  interest.  Not  so  The 
Lost  Silk  Hat,  whose  undramatic  quality  is  not  com- 
pensated by.  any  such  delicacy  of  fancy.  It  is  definitely 
of  that  grotesque  order  which  has  become  more  pro- 
nounced in  Dunsany's  latest  stories,  but  whose  most 


160      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

powerful  expression  belongs  to  an  earlier  date.  The 
interest  centers  about  the  efforts  of  a  gentleman  to 
persuade  various  persons  of  humbler  rank  to  retrieve 
his  tall  hat  from  beneath  the  sofa  of  a  drawing-room 
where  he  has  just  been  visiting.  His  precipitous  re- 
treat, we  learn,  was  due  to  his  having  quarreled  w^ith 
his  hostess,  to  whom  he  was  engaged  to  be  married. 
The  dialogue  alone  supports  the  movement  of  the  play. 
The  Laborer,  the  Clerk,  and  the  Poet  each  engage  in  a 
discussion  as  to  why  they  should  rescue  the  hat,  and, 
for  reasons  most  humorously  indicated,  each  refuses. 
The  poet  endeavors  to  fix  the  gentleman's  mind  upon 
the  romantic  aspect  of  the  situation,  and  failing  that, 
demands  adequate  proofs  of  the  reasonableness  of 
fetching  the  hat.  His  final  disgust,  when  the  gentle- 
man, renouncing  romance,  enters  the  house  and  re- 
mains to  play  a  duet  on  the  piano,  is  equaled  only  by 
the  emotions  of  the  Laborer  when  listening  to  the 
discourses  and  arguments  of  the  poet  and  the  owner 
of  the  missing  article.  These  characterizations  make 
excellent  comedy,  though  they  do  not  add  materially 
to  Lord  Dunsany's  position  as  a  dramatist. 

That  his  work  for  the  stage  is  by  no  means  exhausted 
was  made  clear  by  the  appearance  of  the  two  plays  not 
yet  included  in  his  published  volume.  The  Tents  of 
the  Arabs  is  an  interesting  variation  upon  an  ancient 
theme,  and,  at  the  same  time,  a  return  to  the  subject 
of  the  mysterious  call  of  the  desert,  which  has  inspired 
so  many  eloquent  pages  in  Dunsany's  stories.  The 
story  relates  how  a  King  longs  for  freedom  to  follow 
the  caravan  setting  out  across  the  desert  to  Mecca, 


LATER   PLAYWRIGHTS  161 

and  of  his  final  escape  against  the  wishes  of  his  coun- 
sellors. Forgetful  of  royalty  and  of  the  affairs  of 
state,  he  lingers  a  year  in  the  desert,  and  when  the 
second  act  opens  we  find  him  on  the  point  of  resuming 
the  slavery  of  his  kingly  office.  But  during  his  pro- 
tracted absence,  rumor  has  it  that  he  has  perished,  so 
that  one  of  the  two  camel  drivers,  who  were  previously 
heard  regretting  the  toil  of  their  calling,  is  emboldened 
to  claim  the  throne.  His  resemblance  to  the  King 
helps  him,  but  the  servants  of  state  are  skeptical,  and 
demand  that  Bel-Narb  produce  some  witness  of  his 
claim,  other  than  his  fellow  conspirator,  Aoob.  At 
this  juncture  the  King,  still  clothed  in  the  camel-driver's 
cloak  which  he  wore  in  the  desert,  comes  to  the  im- 
postor's assistance.  Seeing  a  unique  opportunity  to 
obtain  permanent  liberty,  he  testifies  that  Bel-Narb  is 
in  truth  the  King  who  departed  into  the  desert  twelve 
months  previously.  The  latter  is  received  by  the 
people,  and  though  he  offers  employment  in  the  palace 
to  the  late  King,  his  proposal  is  rejected.  The  King 
wants  nothing  in  return  for  his  abdication  but  freedom 
to  rejoin  the  tents  of  the  Arabs. 

A  Night  at  the  Inn  left  the  impression  of  being  equal 
to  The  Gods  of  the  Mountain,  which  it  resembles  in 
the  w^onder  and  horror  of  its  effect.  Three  sailors,  the 
survivors  of  a  party  which  had  stolen  a  great  ruby 
from  the  forehead  of  an  Indian  god,  have  been  awaiting 
some  undefined  event  in  a  lonely  inn  for  three  days 
and  three  nights.  The  place  has  been  rented  by  a 
dilapidated  gentleman  to  whom  they  have  intrusted 
the  precious  stone.    It  is  his  purpose  to  destroy  in  this 


162      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

lonely  spot  the  priests  who  have  dogged  the  sailors' 
footsteps  since  they  left  India,  and  have  already  taken 
mortal  vengeance  on  the  two  of  their  companions  in 
the  theft.  Sitting  with  a  newspaper  in  his  hand,  the 
gentleman  hopes  to  lure  the  priests  to  his  attack,  so 
that  the  sailors  may  fall  upon  them  and  kill  them.  And 
so  it  happens.  One  by  one  the  three  priests  enter 
stealthily,  and  one  by  one  they  are  stabbed  to  death. 

The  three  sailors  are  delighted  at  this  outcome  of 
their  confidence  in  the  gentleman  who  has  so  well 
arranged  affairs  that  they  shall  enjoy  the  proceeds  of 
their  crime.  Drinking  and  toasting,  the  four  adven- 
turers are  celebrating  their  victory,  when  their  doom 
comes  upon  them.  Stony  footfalls  are  heard,  and 
soon  the  guilty  men  are  cowering  before  the  horrible, 
grotesque  jade  god,  who  stamps  up  to  the  table,  puts 
the  precious  ruby  in  his  forehead,  and  walks  out  on 
the  lonely  moor.  Once  outside,  he  calls  in  dreadful 
tones  to  the  sailors  and  their  partner  to  follow  him, 
and  as  each  is  named,  he  is  dragged  out  by  some  irre- 
sistible force.  Finally  the  far-seeing  gentleman  of 
fortune  obeys  the  call  he  had  not  anticipated,  and  the 
inn  is  occupied  only  by  the  bodies  of  the  murdered 
priests. 

Lord  Dunsany  is  the  only  worthy  successor  of  Yeats 
in  the  history  of  the  Irish  Theatre  up  to  the  present, 
for  he  alone  has  broken  with  the  tradition  of  peasant 
drama,  and  has  written  plays  whose  poetry  is  not  con- 
cealed by  the  fact  that  his  medium  is  prose.  For  that 
reason,  and  because  of  his  mythological  and  legendary 
inventiveness,  Dunsany  seems,  to  the  superficial  glance, 


LATER   PLAYWRIGHTS  163 

to  be  outside  the  so-called  Irish  "school",  —  that 
popular  fiction.  He  chose  Pegana,  and  the  fab- 
ulous cities  of  Babbulkund  and  Perdondaris,  in- 
stead of  Celtic  Ireland  and  its  heroic  figures,  but  his 
adventures  are  as  stirring  to  the  imagination  as  any 
recounted  by  Gaelic  legend.  His  work,  both  drama 
and  narrative  prose,  is  part  of  that  rekindling  of  the 
flame  which  has  invested  the  Irish  world  with  the  glow 
of  Celtic  vision.  The  marvels  he  describes  are  often 
but  the  simplest  natural  phenomena  seen  through  the 
eyes  of  a  poet,  and  they  take  on  the  glamour  and  mys- 
tery which  the  Celt  has  at  all  times  descried  in  nature. 
His  greatest  genius  has  been  revealed  in  his  tales  of 
gods  and  men,  but  his  contribution  to  the  drama  is 
sufficiently  original  and  important  to  make  the  name  of 
a  lesser  man.  The  Abbey  Theatre  is  justly  proud  of 
its  share  in  making  known  a  writer  of  so  rare  a  quality. 
It  is  such  discernment  which  makes  it  easy  to  forget 
certain  sins  of  omission  and  commission  with  which 
this  chapter  must  close. 


Melodramatists  and  Others 

Of  the  host  of  recruits  to  the  ranks  of  the  "Abbey" 
pla3"A\Tights  in  recent  years  little  need  be  said.  Most 
of  them  can  write  a  very  creditable  melodrama,  in 
which  all  the  peasant  formula  are  employed  to  good 
effect.  Many  of  the  cliches  of  the  Boucicault  have 
been  abolished,  and  his  situations  are  frequently  re- 
versed, to  the  great  joy  of  such  commentators  as  Mr. 


164      THE   CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF  IRELAND 

Bernard  Shaw,  who  imagines  that  this  fact  is  evidence 
of  lack  of  old-fashioned  patriotism.  The  process  which 
he  recently  described  as  "damning  the  romantic  Old 
Ireland  up  hill  and  down  dale"  is  the  modern  con- 
vention which  has  replaced  the  sentimental  heroics  of 
an  earlier  day.  Neither  is  anything  more  than  what 
the  French  term  un  poncij,  a  stereotyped  formula, 
which  may  or  may  not  correspond  to  any  genuine  emo- 
tion in  the  writer.  The  newer  convention  finds  con- 
stant employment  at  the  hands  of  such  playwrights 
as  W.  F.  Casey,  R.  J.  Ray,  T.  C.  Murray,  and  Lennox 
Robinson,  whose  work  is  familiar  to  all  who  have  seen 
the  performances  of  the  Irish  Players,  at  home  or 
abroad.  There  is  nothing  reprehensible  in  the  cul- 
tivation of  native  melodrama,  and  most  playgoers 
will  prefer  R.  J.  Ray's  Gombeen  Man  to  Arrah  na  Pogue 
or  The  Colleen  Bawn.  But  it  is  as  unnecessary  to 
analyze  such  work  as  it  is  undesirable  to  give  it  the 
prominence  which  it  has  latterly  obtained  in  the  reper- 
tory of  the  Abbey  Theatre. 

The  poet  A.  E.  described  an  unpleasantly  large 
number  of  recent  Irish  plays  when  he  wrote :  "  We  have 
developed  a  new  and  clever  school  of  Irish  dramatists 
who  say  they  are  holding  up  the  mirror  to  Irish  peasant 
nature,  but  they  reflect  nothing  but  decadence.  They 
delight  in  the  broken  lights  of  insanity,  the  rufiian 
who  beats  his  wife,  the  weakling  who  is  unfortunate  in 
love,  and  who  goes  and  drinks  himself  to  death."  The 
specific  references  are  clearly  to  W.  F.  Casey's  The  Man 
who  missed  the  Tide  and  to  The  Cross  Roads  by  Lennox 
Robinson.    Physical  suffering,  murder,  and  even  pesti- 


LATER   PLAYWRIGHTS  165 

lence,  —  among  cattle,  at  least,  —  are  the  familiar 
expedients  by  which  our  playwrights  try  to  escape  the 
artificial  inanities  of  the  successful  play  of  commerce. 
By  an  irony  of  fate,  this  violent  reaction  has  merely 
resulted  in  very  often  substituting  these  plays  with 
cheap  effects  for  the  restrained  and  careful  work  of  the 
genuine  realists. 

Lennox  Robinson  is  perhaps  the  most  important  of 
these  writers,  for  he  has  shown  himself  capable  of  good 
work.  The  plays,  however,  through  which  he  became 
known,  are  typical  illustrations  of  the  melodramatic 
tendency.  The  Cross  Roads  (1909)  is  merely  a  series 
of  violent  scenes  without  much  coherence.  We  are 
asked  to  believe  that  a  woman  who  marries  a  man  she 
does  not  love  brings  a  curse  upon  his  farm.  The  tragic 
effect  of  being  untrue  to  oneself  is  undoubtedly  a 
theme  with  dramatic  possibilities,  but  it  is  too  much  to 
postulate  that  such  a  failure  should  react  upon  the 
fertilizing  properties  of  manure,  the  laying  capacity 
of  hens,  and  produce  disease  among  cattle.  Yet  if 
we  do  not  accept  this,  the  play  loses  all  its  effect.  In- 
stead of  sensing  the  tragedy  of  the  situation,  we  are 
trying  to  see  in  the  denouement  any  connection  with 
what  has  gone  before.  The  dramatist's  next  attempt, 
while  more  coherent,  was  almost  as  unconvincing. 
Harvest  (1910)  deals  with  the  problem  of  education  as 
it  affects  those  whose  social  condition  is  not  considered 
by  the  authorities  when  drawing  up  their  plans.  The 
consequence  of  training  the  mind  until  it  is  no  longer 
adapted  to  its  natural  environment,  while  a  new  outlet 
for  its  activities  is  lacking,  provides  in  Harvest  an  excuse 


166      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

for  a  banal  story  of  seduction,  in  which  the  heroine 
talks  the  language  of  old-fashioned  melodrama.  The 
characters  all  are  the  lifeless  mouthpieces  of  old  for- 
mulae, and  fail  to  convey  the  dramatist's  intention. 

Strange  to  say,  the  first  play  which  Lennox  Robinson 
gave  to  the  Abbey  Theatre  was  better  than  the  two 
which  insured  his  popularity.  The  Clancy  Name 
(1908),  within  the  short  space  of  one  act,  contained 
more  humanity  than  either  of  its  successors.  The 
pride  of  name  in  Mrs.  Clancy,  which  made  her  try  to 
dissuade  her  son  from  giving  himself  up  to  justice,  was 
a  motive  which  the  author  was  able  to  develop  sym- 
pathetically, and  which  inspired  the  protagonists  with 
the  breath  of  life.  When  the  youth  rushes  out  to 
confess  his  crime  to  the  police,  a  fine  spiritual  conflict 
between  the  pair  has  been  witnessed,  but  when  we 
learn  that  he  has  been  killed  while  trying  to  save  a 
child  from  the  hoofs  of  a  runaway  horse,  we  feel  that 
the  dramatist  has  chosen  too  facile  an  escape  from  the 
dilemma. 

His  recent  plays  are  concerned  with  more  serious 
and  substantial  subjects.  Patriots  (1912)  is  an  in- 
teresting picture  of  the  supposedly  changed  attitude 
of  a  younger  generation  of  patriots  towards  the  ques- 
tion of  Irish  freedom,  and  the  means  by  which  it 
should  be  secured.  The  desertion  of  the  returned 
political  prisoner  by  men  more  interested  in  reformist 
and  Parliamentary  methods  gave  rise  to  a  tragedy 
whose  poignancy  is  weakened  only  by  the  thought  that 
the  prestige  of  Nugent  and  his  insurrectionary  faith 
has  been  underestimated.     The  superficiality  of  the 


LATER   PLAYWRIGHTS  167 

author's  estimate  of  the  psychology  of  the  new  genera- 
tion has  now  been  demonstrated  with  fearful  force. 
His  own  colleagues  and  contemporaries  have  been 
executed  for  doing  what  his  play  argued  was  impossible. 
Within  a  week  of  Lennox  Robinson's  debut  at  the  Abbey 
Theatre  in  1908,  ]]^hen  the  Dawn  is  Come,  by  the  late 
Thomas  MacDonagh,  was  produced.  Little  more  than 
a  melancholy  interest  attaches  to  this  unsuccessful 
attempt  to  dramatize  an  aspect  of  a  situation  identical 
with  that  in  which  MacDonagh  was  to  lose  his  life. 
It  is  significant,  however,  that  the  dramatist  who  was 
to  die  should  have  conceived  precisely  the  contrary 
circumstances  to  those  depicted  by  the  writer  of 
Patriots. 

•  Nevertheless  the  modification  of  certain  political 
views  is  a  fact  of  contemporary  Irish  life,  as  witness 
the  comparatively  favorable  reception  of  The  Dreamers, 
which  appeared  in  1915.  Here  Lennox  Robinson  makes 
his  first  attempt  at  historical  drama,  by  choosing  the 
final  episode  in  the  career  of  Robert  Emmet.  Instead, 
however,  of  treating  the  subject  in  the  traditional  ideal- 
istic manner,  he  presents  a  very  depressing  account  of 
the  rising  and  of  those  who  participated  in  it.  Emmet 
alone  stands  out  as  a  man  wholly  devoted  to  the  cause 
of  Ireland  and  prepared  to  risk  everything  for  success. 
His  followers  are  shown  to  be  shiftless,  untrustworthy, 
and  even  dishonest,  and  are  made  largely  responsible 
for  his  failure  and  death.  The  play  is  well  constructed 
and  bears  the  marks  of  careful  planning  and  execution, 
but  it  is  not  easy  to  accept  the  author's  view  of  the 
causes  which  led  to  the  collapse  of  the  rebellion.    He 


168      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

is  too  readily  disposed  to  color  the  facts  in  deference 
to  political  prejudice.  The  tolerance  extended  to  this 
treatment  of  an  almost  hallowed  subject  indicated  that 
lessening  of  political  tension  which  at  one  time  promised 
to  change  the  nature  of  the  Irish  question.  The  re- 
newal of  just  such  a  tragedy  as  Emmet's  suggests  a 
return  to  conditions  on  the  point  of  becoming  a  memory. 

T.  C.  Murray  and  R.  J.  Ray  have  both  contributed 
to  the  popular  repertory  of  the  Abbey  Theatre.  The 
former  has  published  only  two  plays,  Birthright  (1911) 
and  Maurice  Harte  (1912),  neither  of  which  has  more 
than  a  passing  interest.  The  same  is  true  of  The  White 
Feather  (1909),  The  Casting  out  of  Martin  Whelan  (1910), 
and  The  Gombeen  Man  (1913),  by  R.  J.  Ray,  none  of 
which  has  been  issued  in  book  form.  While  T.  C. 
Murray  has  the  same  predilection  for  violent  scenes  as 
R.  J.  Ray,  he  does  not  bathe  his  work  in  such  unrelieved 
gloom  and  incredible  brutality  as  distinguish  The  White 
Feather  and  The  Gombeen  Man.  The  last  mentioned 
is  a  particularly  typical  example  of  a  theme  utterly 
ruined  by  bad  writing  and  worse  psychology.  The 
drama  of  this  sinister  figure  in  Irish  life,  the  money- 
lender of  the  village,  is  so  tangible  and  moving  that  only 
a  playwright  like  Padraic  Colum  could  evoke  it.  In 
all  its  unadorned  power  he  could  project  the  subject 
into  literature,  for  he  alone  possesses  that  sound  in- 
stinct and  knowledge  of  peasant  life  which  would 
eliminate  the  extraneous  and  unnecessary  elements, 
whose  exaggerations  are  deemed  necessary  by  the  imita- 
tive realists. 

The  weakness  of  the  later  dramatists  is  that  they  are 


LATER  PLAYWRIGHTS  169 

imitators  rather  than  innovators;  they  have  added 
nothing  to  the  folk-drama  as  defined  by  Synge  and 
Colum,  for  they  have  not  even  emulated  Lady  Gregory 
in  her  folk-history  tragedies  and  comedies.  Praise 
is  due  to  such  occasional  experimentalists  as  Norreys 
Connell,  whose  one-act  play,  The  Piper  (1908),  and 
"imaginary  conversation,"  Time  (1909),  were  seen  for 
a  brief  period  some  years  ago.  The  newcomers  whose 
work  has  not  yet  been  published  show  few  signs  of 
wishing  to  contribute  something  really  personal  to 
the  repertory  of  the  Irish  Theatre,  with  the  exception 
of  A.  P.  \Yilson's  study  of  industrial  life.  The  Slough 
(1914),  and  perhaps  The  Cuckoo's  Nest  of  John  Guinan. 
But  the  latter  has  been  followed  by  The  Plough- 
Lifters,  a  conventional  comedy  a  la  Boyle,  labored 
and  unconvincing.  It  seems  as  if  the  days  of  peasant 
realism  were  nearly  over,  for  the  genre  has  become  con- 
ventionalized to  the  point  of  inanition.  It  is  true,  Ire- 
land is  entitled  to  have  national  equivalents  for  even  the 
worst  banalities  of  the  imported  English  drama.  The 
most  commonplace  farce  or  melodrama  is  rarely  quite 
so  futile  as  its  English  counterpart,  but  the  Irish  Theatre 
is  capable  of  better  things.  How  it  shall  continue  to 
realize  its  original  purpose  will  be  suggested  when  we 
have  concluded  our  present  survey. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
The  Ulster  Literary  Theatre 


Origins  and  Environment 

Probably  because  it  has  had  no  corporate  existence 
comparable  to  that  of  the  Abbey  Theatre,  the  Ulster 
Literary  Theatre  has  escaped  the  attention  of  all  for- 
eign critics  of  the  Dramatic  Revival  in  Ireland.  They 
have  discussed  the  Ulster  playwrights  without  refer- 
ence to  the  circumstances  in  which  the  latter  have 
developed,  confounding  the  movement  w^hich  gave  them 
birth  with  the  numerous  amateur  organizations,  the 
"Theatre  of  Ireland",  the  "Leinster  Stage  Society", 
the  "National  Players",  and  the  "Gaelic  Repertory 
Theatre ",  whose  useful  work  in  fostering  Irish  drama 
cannot  be  overestimated.  Nevertheless,  the  Ulster 
Theatre  is  distinguished  from  all  these  by  reason  of  its 
having  given  birth  to  a  group  of  writers  whose  relation 
to  Ulster  is  more  intimate  than  mere  literary  association 
in  a  given  dramatic  organization  would  imply.  The 
regionalism  of  the  Northern  dramatists  corresponds  to 
a  definite  condition  of  Irish  geography.  One  might 
say  that  if  the  Ulster  Literary  Theatre  did  not  exist, 

170 


THE    ULSTER   LITERARY   THEATRE  171 

it  would  be  necessary  to  invent  it.  The  Ulster  play- 
wrights are  entitled  to  be  considered  apart  from  their 
Southern  contemporaries,  even  when  they  have  not 
been  identified  specifically  with  the  literary  movement 
in  Belfast. 

The  origins  of  the  Ulster  Literary  Theatre  date  back 
to  1902,  when  the  Belfast  Protestant  National  Society 
decided  to  widen  its  hitherto  purely  political  activities 
by  cooperating  in  the  work  of  the  brothers  Fay.  The 
latter  had  just  been  constituted  the  successors  of  the 
Irish  Literary  Theatre,  and  with  the  assistance  of  some 
of  their  associates,  two  of  the  plays,  Cathleen  ni  Houli- 
han and  The  Racing  Lug  by  James  Cousins,  were  pro- 
duced in  Belfast.  The  effect  of  this  experiment  was  to 
strengthen  the  general  determination  to  give  Ulster  a 
share  in  the  Dramatic  Revival.  After  A.  E.'s  Deirdre 
was  performed  in  Dublin,  it  was  taken  to  Belfast,  and 
in  1904  the  Ulster  Literary  Theatre  came  into  exist- 
ence. The  inaugural  season  began  in  December  of 
that  year,  when  a  poetic  drama  of  the  heroic  age,  Brian 
of  Banba  by  Bulmer  Hobson,  and  The  Reformers,  a 
satire  of  municipal  politics  by  Lewis  Purcell,  introduced 
two  new  playwrights,  both  members  of  the  Belfast 
Protestant  National  Society. 

At  the  same  time  the  first  issue  of  Uladh  appeared, 
containing  a  manifesto  of  the  Ulster  Theatre,  and  for 
a  short  time  this  review  was  the  Northern  counterpart 
of  Beltaine  and  Samhain.  In  its  pages,  as  in  those  of 
the  latter,  were  published  plays  from  the  repertory  of 
the  Theatre,  and  in  the  first  number  appeared  The 
Little  Cowherd  of  Slainge,  a  dramatic  legend  by  Joseph 


172      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

Campbell,  who  has  since  become  one  of  the  most 
notable  of  the  young  Irish  poets.  This  little  piece,  and 
The  Enthusiast  by  Lewis  Pm-cell,  were  produced  the 
following  year,  and  contributed  to  the  strength  of  the 
new  enterprise,  especial  favor  being  accorded  to  Pur- 
cell's  drama  of  the  conflict  between  Catholic  and 
Protestant,  in  which  a  young  idealist's  failure  to  recon- 
cile orange  and  green  provided  the  motive.  In  1906 
the  Ulster  Theatre  firmly  established  its  claim  to  serious 
attention  by  producing  The  Pagan  by  Lewis  Purcell  and 
The  Turn  of  the  Road  by  Rutherford  Mayne.  These 
were  the  first  Ulster  plays  to  be  issued  in  permanent 
form,  having  been  published  in  1907. 

The  Pagan  is  still  the  only  work  of  Lewis  Purcell 
available  to  the  reading  public.  It  is  a  rather  curious 
attempt  to  extract  comedy  from  the  rivalry  of  Pagan 
and  Christian  in  sixteenth-century  Ireland.  A  young 
girl  of  the  new  faith  is  pursued  by  many  suitors,  but 
finally  selects  a  Pagan  as  the  man  of  her  choice,  after 
many  diverting  scenes.  It  is  a  pity  that  the  author 
has  placed  no  more  substantial  evidence  of  his  talent 
on  record,  but  the  same  is  true  of  the  Ulster  play- 
wrights in  general.  Satirical  humor,  as  in  this  instance, 
seems  to  be  a  dominant  characteristic  of  the  Ulster 
group. 

Those  who  have  seen  Thompson  in  Tir-na-n'Og  and 
When  the  Mist  does  he  on  the  Bog,  by  the  writer  who  signs 
himself  "Gerald  MacNamara",  —  the  Ulster  drama- 
tists are  almost  all  pseudonymous,  —  can  testify  to  the 
intensely  comic  sense  displayed  by  the  author.  The 
choice  of  the  Abbey  Theatre  for  the  first  production  of 


THE   ULSTEK   LITERAKY  THEATRE  173 

the  last  named  play  gave  a  piquancy  to  this  good- 
humored  parody  of  Synge.  But  none  of  this  work, 
serious  or  otherwise,  has  been  published  in  book  form, 
so  that  little  remains  upon  which  to  base  an  estimate 
of  the  Ulster  Theatre.  Of  those  associated  with  that 
undertaking  from  the  beginning  only  Rutherford  Mayne 
has  collected  his  work  for  publication. 

Joseph  Campbell,  it  is  true,  has  published  one  play, 
as  did  Lewis  Purcell,  but  Judgment  (1912)  was  not 
written  for  the  Ulster  Theatre;  it  was  produced  in 
Dublin  by  the  Irish  Players.  It  is  a  study  of  man- 
ners among  the  peasantry  of  Donegal,  and  is  per- 
meated by  that  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  region 
which  Campbell's  prose  and  poetry  had  previously 
revealed. 

Those  who  read  his  record  of  a  tramp  in  Donegal, 
Hearing  Stones  (1911),  recognized  in  the  play  many 
echoes  of  those  impressionistic  notes  of  scenes  and  con- 
versations witnessed  while  on  the  road.  The  action 
centers  about  the  silent  protagonist.  Peg  Straw,  an 
old  and  half-demented  vagabond,  who  dominates  the 
situation  after  the  fashion  of  those  invisible  forces  of 
Maeterlinckian  symbolism.  Owen  Ban,  the  weaver, 
admits  to  his  home  the  outcast,  whom  his  wife,  Nabla, 
has  turned  away,  but  not  until  the  greater  part  of  the 
first  act  has  passed  in  conversation  relating  to  this  ab- 
sent figure,  who  unwittingly  gives  rise  to  the  movement 
of  the  drama.  The  cries  of  the  poor  creature  being 
beaten  by  other  tramps  are  the  signal  for  her  ultimate 
appearance,  for  it  is  then  that  the  weaver  disregards 
his  wife's  scruples  j   but  Peg  crosses  his  threshold  only 


174      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF  IRELAND 

to  die  as  a  result  of  her  injuries.  And  as  this  one  life 
is  extinguished,  another  is  awakened,  when  Nabla  gives 
premature  birth  to  a  child  in  consequence  of  the  shock 
of  Peg's  death. 

In  the  second  act  the  old  woman  is  laid  out  for  the 
*'  wake  "  which  is  accorded  to  even  the  humblest  by  Irish 
peasant  custom.  The  primitive  wdldness  of  the  death 
feast  is  depicted  by  one  familiar  with  local  manners, 
and  gives  a  tragic  horror  to  the  scene,  which  is  increased 
by  the  arrival  of  a  wandering  stranger,  who  boister- 
ously disturbs  the  mourners.  In  a  quarrel  he  reveals 
his  identity  as  the  son  whom  popular  legend  supposed 
Peg  Straw  to  have  killed  when  he  was  an  infant. 
Thereupon  he  is  ejected  from  the  house,  and  denied  the 
privilege  of  "waking"  his  dead  mother,  a  summary 
judgment  upon  him  for  his  neglect,  and  a  tragedy  in 
the  eyes  of  a  peasantry  to  whom  death  and  the  family 
are  the  profoundest  facts  of  life. 

The  technical  faults  of  Judgment  are  so  obvious  as 
to  require  no  insistence,  yet  it  is  a  more  valuable  addi- 
tion to  the  Irish  Theatre  than  most  of  the  relatively 
well-constructed  plays  of  late  years.  It  is  a  genuine 
folk  tragedy,  deeply  rooted  in  the  soil,  and  characterized 
by  a  perfect  control  of  peasant  idiom.  A  sincere  sym- 
pathy for  his  people  and  a  deep  insight  into  the  manners 
of  the  Ulster  countryside  differentiate  Joseph  Camp- 
bell from  those  whose  sole  concern  is  to  adapt  the 
peasant  convention  to  the  banalities  of  superficial  melo- 
drama. When  he  has  added  a  stronger  sense  of  the 
theatre  to  his  other  equipment,  he  may  well  rank  with 
the  foremost  dramatists. 


THE   ULSTER   LITERARY   THEATRE  175 


The  Plays  of  Rutherford  Mayne 

It  is  fortunate  that  Rutherford  Mayne  should  be  the 
one  leader  of  the  Ulster  Theatre  by  whose  work  we  are 
enabled  to  measure  its  significance,  for  he  is  not  only 
the  best  of  the  Ulster  playwrights,  but  one  of  the  finest 
talents  revealed  by  the  Dramatic  Movement,  His 
first  play.  The  Turn  of  the  Road,  was  followed  in  1908 
by  The  Drone,  which  was  also  performed  by  the  Ulster 
Literary  Theatre  Society,  as  almost  all  this  dramatic 
work  has  been,  with  the  exception  of  The  Troth  and  one 
unpublished  sketch.  In  1912  a  collected  edition,  under 
the  title  of  The  Drone  and  other  Plays,  brought  together 
his  most  important  writings.  The  Turn  of  the  Road, 
The  Drone,  The  Troth,  and  Red  Turf.  Since  then  he 
has  written  an  electioneering  farce,  If!,  which  was  pro- 
duced at  the  Abbey  Theatre  in  1915,  but  whose  pub- 
lication is  doubtful,  if  one  may  judge  by  his  failure  to 
reprint  his  previous  essays  outside  the  field  of  serious 
folk  drama. 

The  Turn  of  the  Road  tells  the  story  of  Robbie  John 
Granahan's  attempt  to  stifle  the  artistic  impulse,  in 
obedience  to  the  combined  puritanism  and  practical 
"good  sense"  of  his  friends  and  relatives.  They  would 
rather  he  married  a  girl  with  a  good  dowry  and  settle 
down  as  a  respectable  farmer  than  pursue  the  fame 
which  his  fiddle  promises  him.  He  burns  his  instru- 
ment, but  cannot  forget  the  prize  awarded  to  him  at 
the  Feis,  or  Gaelic  musical  contest,  where  his  judges 


176      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

promised  him  a  fine  career.  Granahan  is  not  impelled 
by  the  instinct  of  vagabondage  which  drove  Colum's 
Conn  Hourican  on  to  the  roads.  A  canny  Ulsterman, 
he  has  a  more  precisely  material  advantage  to  tempt 
him  than  the  satisfaction  of  his  artistic  temperament. 
Rutherford  Mayne  has  well  described  the  community 
of  well-to-do  Protestants,  whose  opposition  to  the 
musician  makes  such  an  interesting  contrast  to  the 
motives  at  work  in  The  Fiddler's  House.  Although  in 
both  plays  the  artist  escapes  to  fulfill  his  destiny,  all 
that  separates  the  North  of  Ireland  from  the  remaining 
provinces  is  suggested  in  the  development  and  atmos- 
phere of  the  two  versions  of  the  same  problem. 

When  The  Drone  was  originally  played  by  the  Ulster 
Theatre  Society,  it  was  in  two  acts,  but  a  third  act  was 
added  when  it  was  revised  for  publication.  Of  the 
purely  naturalistic  comedies  it  is  supreme  in  its  simple 
humor  and  charming  portrayal  of  rural  manners.  The 
fun  of  Lady  Gregory's  farces  seems  wholly  on  the  sur- 
face when  compared  w^ith  this  play,  which  achieves 
triumphantly  the  purpose  of  William  Boyle's  Family 
Failing.  Daniel  Murray  has  pretended  for  years  that 
he  is  working  upon  an  invention  which  will  repay  his 
debt  for  their  continued  hospitality.  The  truth  is, 
this  delightful  old  humbug  has  never  done  anything  but 
idle  away  his  days  in  dreaming.  A  Scotsman,  skeptical 
as  is  the  wont  of  his  race,  demands  proofs  of  Murray's 
inventiveness,  and  in  spite  of  the  latter's  amusing  sub- 
terfuges, shows  him  up  as  an  impostor.  The  drone, 
however,  succeeds  eventually  in  cheating  his  victims 
by  selling  them  the  bellows  which  he  claims  to  have 


THE   ULSTER   LITERARY  THEATRE  177 

invented,  and  nobody  will  question  the  justice  of  his 
success,  so  finely  imagined  is  this  character.  His  charm 
stands  out  against  the  background  of  harshness  and 
grasping  frugality  supplied  by  a  typical  group  of 
County  Down  peasants. 

Both  The  Troth  and  Red  Tut-fare  one-act  plays  having 
agrarian  crime  as  their  motive.  The  former  describes 
how  Protestant  and  Catholic  unite  against  their 
common  enemy,  the  landlord  who  threatens  them  with 
eviction.  Ebenezer  McKie  and  Francey  Moore  deter- 
mine to  shoot  Colonel  Fotheringham,  and  pledge  them- 
selves that  whichever  of  the  two  is  arrested  shall  not 
reveal  the  identity  of  his  comrade.  A  shot  is  heard 
and  McKie  returns,  his  demeanor  indicating  that  the 
innocent  man  has  been  caught  by  the  police.  In  an 
agony  of  fear  he  waits  while  his  wife  watches  through 
the  window,  and  when  a  neighbor  calls  to  tell  of  the 
mad  deed  of  Francey  Moore  he  shrinks  from  her  glance. 
To  j\Irs.  McKie's  question,  which  is  an  accusation,  he 
can  only  reply :  "Peace,  woman,  Moore  has  no  wife." 
This  brief  glimpse  of  another  side  of  the  Ulster  question 
is  interesting,  not  only  because  of  its  unique  place  in 
Mayne's  studies  of  the  North  Irish  peasantry,  but  also 
on  account  of  its  indication  of  a  fundamental  unity  be- 
tween those  traditionally  depicted  as  irreconcilable. 

The  scene  of  Red  Turf  is  Galway,  where,  of  course, 
every  variety  of  agrarian  outrage  is  deemed  natural ! 
But  this  violent  anecdote  strains  the  imagination,  even 
though  it  takes  place  on  the  happy  hunting  ground  of 
the  pseudo-Synge  "realists."  The  murder  of  one  peas- 
ant by  another,  in  a  quarrel  over  a  bank  of  turf,  is  too 


178      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

essentially  in  the  "Abbey"  convention  to  provide  seri- 
ous drama.  Strong  language  and  violence,  the  famil- 
iar ingredients,  are  substituted  for  thought  and  action. 
Yet  critics  have  been  found,  both  here  and  in  Ireland, 
who  profess  to  regard  Red  Turf  as  inspired  by  the  study 
of  Synge,  though,  to  do  them  justice,  the  Irish  comments 
to  this  effect  have  come  from  the  avowed  enemies  of 
The  Playboy ! 

Rutherford  IVIayne  does  not  need  to  write  in  this 
manner,  as  disastrous  to  his  own  reputation  as  to  that 
of  the  commentators,  who  have  gravely  attributed  it  to 
the  example  of  Synge.  His  permanent  place  in  our 
contemporary  dramatic  literature  has  been,  and  will 
be,  insured  by  those  studies  of  North  Ireland  peasant 
life  which  he  has  preserved  in  the  atmosphere  and 
idiom  of  Ulster.  He  evokes  the  subtle  characteristics 
of  the  one  as  he  has  mastered  the  Biblical  rhythms  of 
the  other.  With  the  assistance  of  the  Ulster  Players, 
his  work  has  done  for  the  North  of  Ireland  what 
Synge  has  done  for  the  West,  for  the  true  originality 
of  his  achievement  is  best  appreciated  in  the  per- 
formances of  the  Ulster  Theatre  Society.  The  setting, 
speech,  and  acting  combine  to  impress  upon  the  spec- 
tator the  peculiar  and  individual  character  of  the  Ul- 
sterman  and  his  environment.  Without  such  aflfilia- 
tions  the  scope  of  the  Irish  Theatre  would  be  incom- 
plete. The  work  of  Rutherford  MajTie  has,  therefore, 
a  general  as  well  as  a  specific  value,  for  it  serves  to  crys- 
tallize the  scattered  elements  of  the  Dramatic  Move- 
ment in  Ulster,  which  is  fortunate  indeed  in  possessing 
a  representative  dramatist  of  such  high  quality. 


THE   ULSTER   LITERARY  THEATRE  179 


St.  John  G.  Ervine 

There  are  no  indications  that  the  supremacy  of 
Rutherford  MajTie  as  the  leading  Ulster  playwright 
will  be  challenged,  in  spite  of  the  advent  of  a  newcomer 
in  that  field.  St.  John  G.  Ervine,  though  an  Ulster- 
man  writing  of  North  Ireland,  does  not  attach  himself 
to  the  movement  which  has  brought  Ulster  into  the 
Dramatic  Movement.  In  fact,  his  participation  in  the 
work  of  the  Irish  Theatre  has  been  so  recent  that  one 
cannot  regard  his  work  as  an  integral  part  of  that  im- 
pulse towards  national  self-expression  in  literature  and 
drama,  of  which  the  waiters  heretofore  mentioned 
are  the  instruments.  St.  John  Ervine  did  not  identify 
himself  with  the  aspirations  and  aims  of  his  Irish  con- 
temporaries, but  preferred  to  seek  in  England  the  op- 
portunities offered  by  a  wider  public  to  talented  journal- 
ism. It  was  not  until  the  Irish  Plays  had  become  a 
popular  amusement  in  London  and  elsewhere  that  his 
first  play  was  produced  by  them.  The  immediate  suc- 
cess of  Mixed  Marriage  in  1911  seemed  to  confirm  the 
wisdom  of  this  retarded  entry  upon  the  Irish  scene. 

Since  that  date  the  dramatist  has  been  doubled  by 
the  novelist,  for,  as  the  author  of  Mrs.  Martin's  Man, 
St.  John  G.  Ervine  has  been  greeted  with  much  en- 
thusiasm, and  it  seemed  as  if  the  novel  which  the 
Literary  Revival  has  so  long  awaited  had  been  WTitten. 
Critical  examination  of  the  book,  however,  soon  showed 
that  it  was  no  better  than  most  of  the  popular  fiction 


180      THE    CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

which  has  had  Ireland  for  its  setting  in  recent  years. 
The  Literarj'  Revival  has  failed  to  produce  a  novelist 
comparable  to  the  poets  and  dramatists  to  whom 
we  owe  our  literary  renascence.  James  Stephens  alone 
has  written  prose  stories  informed  by  that  imaginative 
beauty  which  is  the  reflection  of  the  Celtic  spirit.  But 
neither  The  Crock  of  Gold  nor  The  Demi-Gods  conforms 
to  the  accepted  form  of  the  novel,  and  even  The  Char- 
woman's Daughter,  for  all  its  apparent  conformity  to 
the  rules  of  the  genre,  is  essentially  a  work  of  delicate 
fantasy. 

The  superiority  of  Stephens  in  the  domain  of  Irish 
fiction  lies  in  the  intimate  relation  between  his  vision 
and  the  genius  of  the  race.  Mrs.  Martin's  Man  is  a 
novel,  but  it  is  not  an  Irish  novel,  in  any  proper  sense 
of  the  term.  It  might  have  been  written  by  an  English- 
man, so  little  does  it  bear  the  imprint  of  the  national 
spirit.  That  it  was  written  out  of  no  profound  impulse, 
but  was  purely  fortuitous  in  its  choice  of  an  Ulster  set- 
ting, seemed  clearly  established  on  the  publication  of 
Alice  and  a  Family.  Here  the  author  turned  with  equal 
facility  to  the  lower  classes  of  South  London,  and  pro- 
duced an  amalgam  of  the  sentimental  idealizations  of 
Dickens  at  his  worst  and  Mr.  Pett  Ridge  at  his  best. 
While  some  remnants  of  sincerity  marked  the  external 
presentation  of  the  Ulster  story,  the  mechanical  compo- 
sition of  humor  and  pathos  marked  its  successor  a  de- 
liberate piece  of  bookmaking. 

As  a  dramatist,  St.  John  G.  Ervine  owes  his  reputa- 
tion to  his  first  play,  Mixed  Marriage,  which  was  pub- 
lished in  the  Abbey  Theatre  Series  in  1911.    Since 


THE   ULSTER  LITERARY  THEATRE  181 

that  date  four  other  Irish  plays  by  him  have  been 
performed :  The  Magnanwious  Lover,  The  Critics,  The 
Orangeman,  and  John  Ferguson.  All  these  were  issued 
in  a  collected  edition  in  1914,  except  John  Ferguson, 
which  was  produced  and  published  a  year  later.  They 
do  not  represent  his  complete  dramatic  works,  for  he 
has  shown  the  same  versatility  in  his  choice  of  sub- 
ject for  the  theatre  as  for  the  novel.  Jane  Clegg 
(1914),  which  was  played  in  Manchester  and  London, 
is  a  typical  study  of  middle-class  English  life,  in  the 
manner  of  Stanley  Houghton  or  D.  H.  Laurence,  show- 
ing that  the  author  is  not  very  deeply  rooted  in  his 
native  soil,  either  as  a  novelist  or  a  plaj'wright.  In 
fact,  until  he  recently  became  manager  of  the  Abbey 
Theatre,  nobody  suspected  him  of  any  desire  to  be  more 
definitely  associated  with  the  intellectual  movement  of 
his  country  than  is  Mr.  Bernard  Shaw. 

The  favorable  impression  made  by  Mixed  Marriage 
was  largely  due  to  the  topical  nature  of  the  problem 
presented,  and  to  the  justice  of  the  dramatist's  treat- 
ment of  a  theme  easily  susceptible  of  distortion.  The 
irrepressible  conflict  of  Catholic  and  Protestant  in  the 
North  of  Ireland  had  already  been  dramatized  by  Lewis 
Purcell  in  The  Enthusiast,  but  that  forgotten  one-act 
play  did  not  grip  the  popular  imagination  as  did  Mixed 
Marriage.  St.  John  Ervine  contrived  to  compress 
within  four  acts  all  the  various  ramifications  of  that 
religious  bigotry  which  has  served  politicians  more  use- 
fully than  it  has  served  Lister  or  Ireland. 

John  Rainey  is  described  as  an  Orangeman  of  at 
least  sufficient  intelligence  to  understand  that  theolog- 


182      THE    CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

ical  controversy  is  a  poor  substitute  for  cooperation, 
where  the  interests  of  the  working  classes  demand  unity. 
His  Protestantism  is  beyond  question,  so  that  he  be- 
comes a  powerful  factor  for  solidarity,  when  he  urges 
both  Catholic  and  Protestant  to  combine  in  declaring 
a  strike.  It  looks  as  if  the  old  trick,  by  which  Belfast 
capitalism  invariably  defeats  labor,  was  about  to  fail. 
Rainey  will  prevent  the  disruption  of  the  forces  of  the 
workers  by  showing  them  how  the  employers  always 
raise  the  religious  issue  to  their  own  advantage,  thus 
bringing  about  that  paradox  of  Irish  politics :  an  in- 
dustrial population  devoted  to  the  behests  of  conserv- 
ative leaders. 

Out  of  his  personal  knowledge  of  social  conditions  in 
Belfast,  St,  John  Ervine  is  able  to  portray  with  great 
veracity  the  mentality  of  this  Protestant,  partly  awak- 
ened to  a  sense  of  actuality.  But  the  latter  is  soon 
plunged  into  the  historic  past  when  he  discovers  that 
his  son,  Hugh,  intends  to  marry  Nora  Murray,  a  Cath- 
olic girl.  The  red  rag  of  "Popery"  is  before  his  eyes, 
and  all  his  energies  are  now  devoted  to  stirring  up  the 
ancient  feud,  until  the  strike  is  forgotten  in  a  religious 
riot.  The  military  are  called  out  to  quell  the  rioters, 
firing  is  heard  in  the  street  before  the  house,  and  when 
Nora  rushes  out,  in  helpless  protest  against  this  vio- 
lence, she  is  shot,  thus  solving  the  immediate  problem. 
As  for  the  general  question  raised  by  the  play,  the 
dramatist  has  no  solution  to  offer,  unless  we  are  to  sup- 
pose that  the  intermarriage,  which  did  not  take  place, 
would  have  effected  the  necessary  reconciliation  of  both 
creeds  and  the  parties  which  stand  for  them. 


THE   ULSTER   LITERARY  THEATRE  183 

For  the  English  stage  an  epilogue  to  this  question 
was  written,  and  its  conclusion  is  a  similar  hint  of  the 
regeneration  of  Ulster  which  may  be  expected  from  the 
younger  generation.  The  Orangeman  was  ultimately 
included  in  the  Abbey  Theatre  repertory,  after  it  had 
made  the  round  of  the  English  provinces.  It  tells  of 
the  refusal  of  young  Tom  McClurg  to  carry  on  the 
family  tradition  of  bigotry.  His  father,  a  veteran  of 
the  Orange  faction,  is  too  old  and  rheumatic  to  take 
part  in  the  annual  demonstration  of  his  co-religionists,  in 
celebration  of  the  fictitious  anniversary  of  the  Battle 
of  the  Boyne.  Old  McClurg  brings  out  his  drum,  a 
precious  heirloom,  which  he  has  beaten  vigorously  every 
Twelfth  of  July,  and  demands  that  the  son  shall  take 
his  place  in  the  parade,  Tom  McClurg  vigorously 
repudiates  the  honor,  and  clinches  his  argument  by 
putting  his  foot  through  the  drum. 

The  Magnanimous  Lover,  the  author's  second  play, 
is  a  rather  heavy-handed  attempt  to  expose  the  moral 
prig  who  presumably  lurks  in  many  an  Ulster  Protes- 
tant, as  he  assuredly  does  in  every  puritanical  com- 
munity. Maggie  Cather  scorns  the  unctuous  remorse 
which  has  prompted  her  betrayer  to  offer  marriage  in 
reparation  for  his  fault  of  ten  years  ago.  Henry  Hinde 
is  an  incredible  creature,  even  if  he  be  true  to  life,  and 
his  fatuous  mouthing  of  Biblical  precepts  excites  neither 
humor  nor  indignation.  He  is  a  lifeless  target  for  a 
form  of  satire  which  only  artistic  selection  could  make 
interesting.  The  transcription  of  a  cad's  mind  is  not 
itself  sufficient  to  endow  the  character  with  any  sig- 
nificance.   Nor  is  this  weakness  compensated  by  the 


184      THE    CONTEMPORAKY  DRAMA   OF  IRELAND 

changes  solemnly  rung  by  Maggie  Gather  upon  the 
motive  of  so  many  feminist  dramas :  the  divine  right 
of  woman  to  bear  a  child  without  reference  to  the  legal 
ceremony  of  marriage. 

Artistic  sensitiveness  is  not  the  strong  point  of  St. 
John  Ervine,  as  his  characterization  of  Henry  Hinde 
showed.  Not  satisfied  with  this  failure  to  display  that 
power  of  selection  upon  which  the  creative  writer  has 
always  relied,  he  proceeded  to  make  bad  worse. 
Spurred  by  the  futile  reports  in  the  Irish  press  of  The 
Magnanimous  Lover,  none  of  which  could  ever  be  dig- 
nified by  the  name  of  criticism,  he  -WTote  a  sketch  en- 
titled TJie  Critics.  Bernard  Shaw  had  shown  what 
delightful  fun  could  be  had  by  dramatically  criticizing 
the  dramatic  critics.  This  example  should  have  been 
a  warning  to  his  protege,  not  an  encouragement  to 
ignore  his  own  limitations.  In  a  special  note  to  the 
printed  play,  St.  John  Ervine  informs  us  that  the 
speeches  in  this  wearisome  buffoonery  are  "lifted'* 
from  the  press  notices  of  The  Magnanimous  Lover. 
One  has  no  diflBculty  in  believing  this,  though  the 
fact  does  little  credit  to  the  author's  imagination, 
and  adds  even  less  humor  to  the  piece. 

A  satirical  exposure  of  what  passes  for  criticism  in 
the  daily  press  of  most  English-speaking  countries  would 
be  nowhere  more  effective  than  in  Dublin,  but  The  Critics 
is  a  reflection  upon  the  reporter  who  wrote  it  rather  than 
upon  the  reporters  it  vainly  essays  to  satirize.  \Miat 
are  we  to  think  of  the  labored  humor  which  would 
attribute  to  even  the  most  ignorant  newspapermen  the 
belief  that  Hamlet  is  an  immoral  play  by  an  "Ab- 


THE   ULSTER   LITERARY  THEATRE  185 

bey"  playwright?  or  that  Shakespeare  must  be  the 
Gaelic  form  of  the  name  Murphy  ?  Yet  it  is  with  such 
obvious  fooHng  that  St.  John  Ervine  professes  to  demon- 
strate his  superiority  to  criticism  which,  in  the  more 
enhghtened  days  of  his  predecessors,  was  deservedly 
ignored.  One  would  imagine  that  in  failing  to  appre- 
ciate The  Magnanimous  Lover,  the  commercial  press 
which  vilified  Synge  and  Yeats  had  finally  committed 
an  outrage  upon  good  taste!  A  writer  who  could 
include  in  his  collected  works  such  an  intellectual 
offense  as  The  Critics,  whose  mere  performance  was 
a  reflection  upon  the  critical  standards  of  the  Irish 
Theatre,  is  obviously  disqualified  for  the  task  he  has 
essayed. 

On  being  appointed  manager  of  the  Abbey  Theatre, 
St.  John  Ervine  produced  his  most  recent  play,  John 
Ferguson  (1915),  which  had  been  destined  originally 
for  the  English  stage.  Owing  to  the  precarious  state 
of  the  theatre  in  London  during  wartime,  he  decided  to 
give  his  work  to  Dublin,  faute  de  mieux,  as  he  was 
careful  to  explain  to  the  reporters.  This  is  his  longest 
drama  since  Mixed  Marriage,  both  being  in  four  acts, 
so  that  the  desire  to  obtain  a  more  profitable  hearing  is 
easily  explained  in  one  whose  concern  for  the  Irish 
Theatre  has  been  of  a  rather  personal  and  casual  nature. 
It  must  be  confessed  that,  however  great  its  appeal  to 
a  foreign  audience,  John  Ferguson  is  not  a  very  impor- 
tant contribution  to  the  dramatic  literature  of  the  Irish 
Revival.  Like  so  much  that  its  author  has  written, 
it  has  secured  more  praise  abroad  than  at  home.  An 
American   critic   has   been   inspired  to  the  point  of 


186      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

declaring  it  superior  in  almost  every  respect  to  the  work 
of  J.  jNI.  Synge. 

The  play  is  related  to  Mixed  Marriage  in  so  far  as  it 
is  a  further  illustration  of  the  profound  and  unrelaxing 
faith  of  the  religious  Ulsterman.  John  Ferguson  is  a 
man  of  the  same  caliber  as  John  Rainey  in  the  earlier 
piece,  but  his  convictions  do  not  work  for  evil,  although 
powerless  to  prevent  it.  His  farm  is  mortgaged  to 
Henry  Witherow,  the  local  gombeen-man,  in  whose 
power  all  his  friends  and  neighbors  are  crushed.  The 
family  is  waiting  anxiously'  for  the  remittance  from  an 
uncle  in  America  which  will  save  them  from  eviction 
and  ruin.  Ferguson's  daughter  Hannah  tries  to  con- 
quer her  loathing  for  the  mean-spirited  James  Caesar, 
who  is  willing  to  marry  her  and  thereby  bring  the  money 
into  the  household  which  would  liberate  them  from 
Witherow's  claims.  She  thinks  she  can  make  the  sacri- 
fice, but  is  obliged  to  break  her  promise  to  Csesar,  who 
is  distracted  with  grief  and  shame  at  being  openly 
scorned  by  those  he  would  benefit.  His  feelings  are 
those  of  madness  when  he  learns  that  Hannah  has  been 
wronged  by  Witherow,  and  he  swears  to  carry  out  a 
long-standing  threat  to  kill  him. 

Genuine  as  his  fury  is,  once  Csesar  is  on  the  road 
to  Witherow's  house  his  courage  fails  him,  as  it  so  often 
did  before,  and  he  can  only  lie  in  hiding,  trembling  with 
rage  and  fear.  While  the  girl  is  sobbing  at  home, 
"Clutie"  John,  a  local  half-wit,  goads  her  brother, 
Hugh,  by  his  ingenuous  talk  to  such  a  pitch  that  he 
determines  to  execute  the  deed  which  Csesar  failed  to 
accomplish.     Unknown  to  all,  he  slips  out  into  the  night 


THE   ULSTER  LITERARY  THEATRE  187 

and  shoots  Witherow,  returning  unperceived.  The 
wretched  man  who  had  openly  and  so  often  vowed  he 
would  kill  the  gombeen  is  of  course  arrested,  and  no- 
body doubts  that  he  is  guilty.  He  even  acquires  a 
new  dignity  on  that  account  in  the  eyes  of  Hannah. 
Her  brother  eventually  confesses,  for  his  principles  and 
those  of  his  father  will  not  permit  them  to  carry  out  the 
first  impulse  to  arrange  for  his  escape.  Hugh  is  ar- 
rested, and  the  old  father  is  left  to  console  himself  with 
the  comforts  of  his  religion,  which  has  withstood  every 
trial,  including,  finally,  the  arrival  of  the  remittance, 
which  would  have  saved  everything  by  coming  one  mail 
sooner. 

John  Ferguson  reverses  the  natural  order  of  most 
plays  in  being  summarized,  for  it  gains  rather  than 
loses  by  the  process.  The  obvious  banality  of  certain 
fundamental  incidents  does  not  alter  the  fact  that  the 
motive  was  soundly  dramatic  if  not  particularly  new. 
The  central  figure,  John  Ferguson,  is  an  attempt  to 
portray  a  thoroughly  religious,  if  simple,  man,  in  the 
presence  of  disasters  sufficient  to  try  the  faith  of  many 
devout  Christians.  His  creator,  however,  has  failed 
to  infuse  real  life  into  him.  Misled  once  again  by 
his  naive  confidence  in  literal  transcript^ion,  St.  John 
Ervihe  conceives  of  no  more  effective  means  of  char- 
acterizing John  Ferguson  than  that  of  making  him  con- 
stantly read  aloud,  or  repeat,  long  texts  of  Scripture. 
These  lay  sermons  are  excessive,  and  overshoot  the 
mark.  Similarly,  in  order  that  we  may  know  James 
Caesar  for  a  coward,  the  author  makes  of  him  a  mon- 
strous caricature,  who  utters  openly  all  the  craven 


188      THE   CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

thoughts  of  the  meanest-spirited  creature  conceivable 
to  the  average  man.  Both  these  characters  remind 
one  of  those  symbolical  personages  in  the  medieval 
allegories,  whose  significance  was  writ  large  upon  them 
in  the  most  primitive  fashion,  so  that  there  should  be 
no  mistake  as  to  their  identity. 

This  crude  characterization  by  means  of  externals, 
this  purely  mental  conception  of  human  types,  reveals 
St.  John  Ervine  as  in  the  category  of  the  melodramatists. 
He  does  not  write  out  of  any  vision  ;  he  does  not  speak 
with  the  authentic  voice  of  one  whose  impulse  comes 
straight  from  the  life  and  spirit  of  his  own  people.  Ex- 
cepting John  Rainey  in  Mixed  Marriage,  there  is  not  a 
character  in  these  plays  who  is  more  than  a  mere  verbal 
statement  of  a  point  of  view,  a  labeled  puppet  through 
whom  the  author  tries  to  convey  his  intentions. 
Speeches  are  no  more  a  substitute  for  characterization 
than  words  are  for  drama,  unless  perhaps  where  a 
Bernard  Shaw  is  concerned.  He  alone  has  made  the 
exposition  of  ideas  a  satisfactory  alternative  to  the  por- 
trayal of  life.  St.  John  Ervine  has  not  the  intellectual 
power  of  formulating  ideas  in  such  a  manner  as  to  visual- 
ize a  whole  class  and  a  philosophy.  He  has  not  that 
faculty  which  can  evoke  the  mentality  of  a  nation  as  in 
Broadbent  of  Jobi  Bull's  other  Island.  The  Ulster 
dramatist  would  believe  himself  to  have  done  so,  if  he 
had  put  into  Broadbent's  mouth  faithful  and  frequent 
quotations  from  the  English  Liberal  newspapers  !  By 
their  words  only,  he  seems  to  say,  you  shall  know  them. 

If  John  Ferguson  and  Henry  Hinde  do  not  convince 
us  as  being  more  than  mechanical  representations  of 


THE   ULSTER   LITERARY  THEATRE  189 

preconceived  types,  that  is  because  they  are  not  born 
of  sympathetic  insight  and  observation,  but  are 
attempts  to  reproduce  verbally  the  author's  recollec- 
tions of  what  such  people  say.  They  speak  before  us, 
but  do  not  live  before  us.  In  almost  all  that  St.  John 
Ervine  has  written  for  the  stage,  reporting  does  duty 
for  the  creation  and  development  of  character.  In 
his  novels,  whatever  there  is  of  reality  is  due  to  the 
same  methods,  but,  in  the  main,  he  relies  upon  the 
elaboration  of  literary  conventions,  notably  where 
women  are  concerned.  Mrs.  Martin  and  Alice  are  the 
stock  figures  of  sentimental  feminism.  On  the  one 
hand  is  the  martyred  and  indomitable  wife,  who,  sur- 
viving her  husband's  worst  offenses,  manages  to  keep 
everything  respectable;  on  the  other,  the  familiar 
child  of  "mothering"  proclivities,  who  triumphs  by 
innocence  and  precocious  wisdom  in  a  world  of  cor- 
rupt and  incompetent  adults.  The  author  of  Alice 
and  a  Family  has  not  studied  life;  he  has  studied 
Dickens,  making  a  special  note  of  "Little  Dorrit"  and 
"  The  Marchioness. "  The  women  of  both  the  plays  and 
the  novels  are,  in  short,  prolonged  statements  of  "what 
every  woman  knows";  solemn  demonstrations  of  the 
amiable  platitude:  "the  hand  that  rocks  the  cradle 
rules  the  world." 

It  is  not  within  the  province  of  the  present  work  to 
estimate  the  position  of  St.  John  Ervine  in  contempo- 
rary English  Literature.  It  may  well  be  that  his  reputa- 
tion in  England  is  assured,  for  it  is  to  that  public  he 
originally  addressed  himself,  his  connection  with  the 
Irish  Theatre,  and  his  interest  in  Ireland,  being,  as  it 


190      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

were,  an  afterthought.  It  is  certain  that  appreciation 
abroad  will  atone  for  the  rather  anomalous  nature  of  his 
sudden  relationship  to  a  national  movement  with  which 
he  has,  as  an  artist,  little  in  common.  A  leading  review 
in  this  country  recently  stated  that  "  Synge  at  his  best  is 
superior  to  Mr.  Ervine  in  sheer  imaginative  power,  but 
a  large  part  of  his  work  is  tainted  with  a  kind  of  insan- 
ity, and  he  has  nothing  like  Mr.  Ervine's  firm  grasp  of 
reality."  That  criticism  is  typical  of  the  attitude  of 
the  press,  outside  Ireland,  towards  the  author  of  Mrs. 
Martin's  Man,  his  first  popular  success,  which  was 
vouched  for  by  that  expert  in  nationality,  ]\Ir.  H.  G. 
Wells.  Bernard  Shaw  describes  him  as  "a  genuine 
Irishman  of  genius ",  the  inference  being  that  those 
writers  who  have  lived  and  worked  in  Ireland  all  their 
lives,  and  have  felt  the  urge  of  the  national  spirit  in 
literature,  are  not  genuine. 

These  encomiums,  however  justified,  can  have  little 
bearing  upon  the  question  which  falls  within  our  present 
scope.  We  must  determine  the  value  of  St.  John  Er- 
vine's work  as  part  of  the  dramatic  literature  which 
owes  its  impulse  to  the  forces  that  have  built  up  the 
Irish  Theatre.  We  have  seen  the  character  of  the 
drama  inspired  by  the  traditions  and  ideals  of  a  move- 
ment which  has  been  a  veritable  literary  renaissance  in 
Ireland.  How  far  does  John  Ferguson  or  Mixed  Mar- 
riage correspond  to  the  standards  and  purpose  of  the 
Dramatic  Revival  ?  It  would  seem  as  if  neither  had 
contributed  materially  to  the  realization  of  those  aims 
which  were  before  the  pioneers  and  collaborators  in 
the  enterprise  whose  history  has  been  outlined.    St. 


THE   ULSTER   LITERARY  THEATRE  191 

John  Ervine  belongs  definitely  to  the  new  regime,  which 
was  forecasted  by  the  gradual  elimination  of  all  but  the 
more  popular  plays  and  playwrights  from  the  current 
repertory  of  the  Abbey  Theatre.  It  is  fitting  and 
significant  that  he  should  now  be  manager  of  an  in- 
stitution with  which  he  was  not  associated  until  the 
process  of  change  was  under  way. 

His  plays  are  not  Irish  in  the  sense  that  those  of  his 
predecessors  were ;  they  are  not  the  expression  of  any 
profound  or  essential  phase  of  our  national  life  and 
being.  They  have  neither  the  poetic,  imaginative 
quality  of  Yeats  or  Synge,  nor  do  they  bear  the  imprint 
of  the  folk  spirit  which  is  the  possession  of  Padraic 
Colum  and  the  genuine  peasant  dramatists.  What- 
ever their  respective  merits  and  demerits,  all  the  writers 
heretofore  mentioned  have  endeavored,  with  varying 
success,  it  is  true,  to  dramatize  those  elements  of  our 
civilization  which  are  fundamentally  and  specifically 
Irish.  Some  have  felt  the  poetry,  others  the  tragedy ; 
some  have  seen  only  the  humor,  others  the  superficial 
drama,  of  Ireland  —  but,  with  negligible  exceptions, 
none  have  written  in  a  mood  indifferent,  or  alien,  to  the 
spirit  of  the  race. 

St.  John  Ervine  must  be  counted  amongst  those 
exceptions.  He  has  not  divined  any  vital  situation 
arising  out  of  the  character  of  the  Irish  people  and  the 
composition  of  Irish  society.  His  presentation  of  the 
political  conflict  in  Ulster,  a  relatively  superficial  and 
transitory  condition,  is  the  only  instance  where  he  has 
given  dramatic  expression  to  a  genuine  Irish  problem. 
The  other  plays  produced  at  the  Abbey  Theatre  had  no 


192      THE    CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

more  claim  to  the  national  stage  than  Jane  Clegg, 
which  is  frankly  English  in  its  conception  and  appeal. 
Remove  the  Ulster  accent  from  The  Magnanimotis 
Lover  and  John  Ferguson,  and  there  is  no  reason  why 
they  also  should  not  be  dedicated  to  Shaw,  and  ad- 
dressed directly  to  the  same  audience.  In  fine,  this 
dramatist  is  at  bottom  a  journalist,  with  an  eye  for  the 
external  peculiarities  of  Irish  life ;  hence  Mixed  Mar- 
riage. 

That  he  is  a  good  journalistic  commentator  on  Irish 
political  and  social  issues  is  proved  by  his  entertaining 
study.  Sir  Edward  Carson  and  the  Ulster  Movement  (1915) , 
where  the  hollowness  of  the  question  treated  in  Mixed 
Marriage  is  demonstrated  with  great  skill.  Such  com- 
ment is  open  to  all  Irishmen,  however  expatriate,  pro- 
vided they  stimulate  intelligent  discussion,  and  St. 
John  Ervine  has  established  his  right  in  this  field  more 
effectively  than  in  the  domain  of  Anglo-Irish  literature. 
So  far  as  the  latter  is  concerned,  he  seems  destined  to 
be  another  of  those  Irishmen,  like  Wilde  and  Shaw 
(to  name  the  inevitable  pair),  whose  fame  can  never 
be  identified  with  any  other  country  but  that  of  their 
literary  naturalization. 


CHAPTER  IX 

SUMMAEY  AND   CONCLUSION 

Now  that  the  Irish  Theatre  has  entered  upon  a  new- 
phase  of  its  existence,  it  is  possible  to  sum  up  its  present 
achievement.  All  the  circumstances  of  the  past  few 
years  indicate  that  a  chapter  in  its  history  has  closed, 
and  that,  whatever  the  future  may  bring,  there  can  be  no 
return  to  the  conditions  w^hich  prevailed  until  the  death  of 
Synge  in  1909.  It  is  not  likely  that  the  Abbey  Theatre 
will  disappear,  for  it  has  overcome  diflBculties  which 
often  threatened  to  make  survival  a  miracle.  Neither 
the  European  w^ar,  nor  the  devastation  of  Dublin  dur- 
ing the  insurrection  of  April,  1916,  has  destroyed  it. 
Early  in  1915  disquieting  reports  hinted  at  the  aban- 
domnent  of  the  enterprise,  but  W.  B.  Yeats  was  able  to 
affirm  his  intention  of  weathering  the  world-storm. 
As  if  to  confirm  the  hope  of  permanence,  the  Theatre 
itself  survived  intact  the  destruction  of  all  the  neigh- 
boring buildings  when  the  Irish  capital  was  besieged. 

What  has  been  said  of  the  late  dramatists  should 
make  it  easy  to  understand  why  a  change  in  the  pro- 
gram of  the  National  Theatre  has  become  impera- 
tive. So  long  as  the  folk  drama  and  the  poetic  drama 
of  Irish  legend  w^ere  encouraged,  there  was  a  certain 

193 


194      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

homogeneity  of  purpose  and  spirit,  but  the  complacent 
substitution  of  melodrama  and  farce  made  for  disinte- 
gration. Intelligent  playgoers  could  not  be  found 
to  tolerate  the  eternal  repetitions  of  the  popular  play- 
wrights, who  did  not  even  promise  them  the  humor  of 
peasant  speech  which  distinguishes  Lady  Gregory's 
writings  from  the  others.  Consequently,  the  quality 
of  both  the  plays  and  their  audiences  underwent  a  subtle 
change,  until  finally  nothing  remained  of  the  original 
tradition  but  an  occasional  performance  of  Yeats  and 
Synge.  Even  when  the  Irish  Players  went  on  tour 
they  began  to  meet  with  the  same  complaints  as  had 
deprived  them  of  their  best  supporters  in  Ireland. 
Moreover  the  Players  themselves  were  no  longer  the 
same;  they  had  lost  too  many  of  their  best  actors, 
the  brothers  Fay,  Miss  Sara  Allgood,  Miss  Moira 
O'Neill,  Miss  Maire  nic  Shiubhlaigh  and  Miss  Eithne 
Magee.  The  newcomers,  players  and  playwrights 
alike,  were  living  on  the  achievements  of  their  prede- 
cessors. 

Just  as  this  process  of  deterioration  had  reached  its 
height,  Edward  Martyn  found  circumstances  favorable 
to  the  resuscitation  of  his  early  plans.  "The  Irish 
Theatre"  was  launched  in  1914,  to  carry  on  the  work 
of  the  Irish  Literary  Theatre  and  the  various  amateur 
theatrical  associations  which  had  been  inspired  by  that 
example.  All  these  scattered  energies  had  been  devoted 
to  the  support  of  the  drama  which  did  not  come  within 
the  scope  of  the  National  Theatre.  Reference  has 
already  been  made  to  the  success  of  this  experiment, 
in  which  Martyn  had  the  assistance  of  the  late  Thomas 


SUMMARY  AND   CONCLUSION  195 

MacDonagh  and  Joseph  Plunkett.  It  is  to  be 
feared  that  the  tragic  termination  of  the  career  of 
these  writers,  and  the  imprisonment  of  others  who 
had  collaborated  with  Martyn  and  MacDonagh,  may 
have  the  effect  of  killing  the  Irish  Theatre  in  embryo. 
The  only  alternative  would  be  a  junction  of  forces 
between  the  Abbey  Theatre  and  the  other  organiza- 
tion. In  other  words,  that  divergence  of  aims  which  at 
the  outset  dissolved  the  partnership  of  Martyn  and 
Yeats  must  be  compromised. 

There  is  no  reason  why  The  Heather  Field,  The  Shad- 
owy Waters,  The  Playboy  of  the  Western  World,  and  The 
Land  should  not  be  part  of  the  same  repertory.  It 
is  no  less  narrow  to  restrict  the  programs  of  the 
National  Theatre  to  psychological  than  to  peasant  plays, 
and  both  branches  of  the  Dramatic  Movement  have 
suffered  by  this  dissociation.  While  Martyn's  pro- 
gram had  to  be  resigned  to  amateurs,  Yeats's  has 
been  seriously  threatened  by  the  exigencies  of  commer- 
cial success.  Similarly,  the  Ulster  Literary  Theatre 
Society  purchased  its  independence  at  the  cost  of  its 
corporate  existence.  Instead  of  becoming  an  integral 
part  of  the  Abbey  Theatre,  the  Ulster  Theatre  con- 
demned itself  to  a  precarious  and  intermittent  career, 
producing  its  plays  anywhere  and  everywhere,  in  com- 
petition with  the  playhouses  of  commerce.  Occasional 
visits  to  the  National  Theatre  in  Dublin  were  the  only 
signs  of  the  original  affiliation,  and  almost  all  the  Ul- 
ster plays  have  had  their  first  nights  in  Belfast.  Until 
Rutherford  Mayne's  // .'  was  produced  last  year,  none 
had  its  premiere  at  the  Abbey  Theatre. 


196      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

Should  St.  John  Ervine  carry  out  the  avowed  inten- 
tion of  his  management,  we  may  expect  the  Irish 
Theatre  to  become,  not  a  national  institution,  but  a 
provincial  English  repertory  theatre.  Himself  a  dram- 
atist in  the  English,  rather  than  the  Irish,  tradition, 
he  will  have  no  difficulty  in  effecting  such  a  change. 
In  fact  he  has  publicly  indicated  the  nature  of  his  pro- 
posed innovations  by  promising  the  production  of 
Milton's  Samson  Agonistes  and  Beaumont  and  Fletch- 
er's The  Knight  of  the  Burning  Pestle.  Coupled  with 
his  constant  assurances  of  the  non-existence  of  good 
Irish  plays,  such  announcements  suggest  the  advent  of 
a  subsidiary  branch  of  the  London  Court  Theatre  or 
Stage  Society.  Nobody  familiar  with  the  dramatic 
literature  of  the  Irish  Revival  would  have  much  diffi- 
culty in  proposing  works  of  more  national  interest  to 
replace  these,  and  to  rid  their  sponsor  of  his  illusion  that 
the  native  drama  is  an  exhausted  vein.  With  a  little 
more  sympathy  for  the  achievement  of  his  predecessors, 
he  would  have  an  unusual  opportunity  to  bring  about 
that  union  of  forces  which  is  desirable.  The  whole 
field  of  Irish  drama  might  be  represented,  at  last,  by 
the  repertory  of  the  Abbey  Theatre.  Once  that  had 
been  accomplished,  the  production  of  foreign  master- 
pieces, whether  by  Milton  or  Hauptmann,  would  be 
welcomed  by  all  educated  Irishmen.  As  it  is,  both 
Edward  MartjTi  and  Lady  Gregory  have  been  instru- 
mental in  making  known  much  of  the  best  work  of  the 
Continental  dramatists,  ancient  and  modern. 

Such  a  compromise,  if  it  be  correct  to  use  that  term, 
would  not  only  be  to  the  advantage  of  our  dramatic 


SUMMARY  AND   CONCLUSION  197 

literature ;  it  would  save  the  National  Theatre  from 
the  worse  compromise  of  abandoning  its  finest  ideals. 
There  is  little  use  in  saving  its  nominal  life  at  the  expense 
of  its  artistic  soul.  If  it  ceases  to  stand  for  those  ideals 
so  eloquently  formulated  by  Yeats  in  the  pages  of 
Samhain,  and  so  well  defended  and  exemplified  in  the 
first  decade  of  the  Theatre's  history,  the  loss  will  be 
hard  for  Ireland  to  replace.  No  satisfaction  would  then 
be  derived  from  the  thought  that  the  Abbey  Theatre 
was  doing  good  service  to  the  general  repertory  move- 
ment in  England.  If  the  Literary  Revival  has  meant 
a  great  deal  to  us,  the  reason  must  be  sought  in  the  fact 
that  it  was  always  something  more  than  "mere  litera- 
ture." It  has  been  a  manifestation  of  nationality, 
which  has  given  us  a  literature  and  a  theatre  essen- 
tially different  from  those  of  any  other  English-speak- 
ing country. 

After  long  years  of  purely  political  struggle,  the  soul 
of  Ireland  once  more  found  expression  in  literature. 
When  Gaelic  ceased  to  be  the  medium  of  education, 
those  who  found  themselves  obliged  to  use  English 
were  cut  off  from  contact  with  national  culture,  and 
could  only  attach  themselves  to  the  traditions  of  the 
new  tongue.  Then  came  the  period  of  the  anglicized 
Irish  writers,  —  Goldsmith,  Swift,  and  the  others. 
The  contrast  between  the  poetry  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury and  that  of  the  last  fifty  years  gives  the  exact 
measure  of  the  importance  of  the  Celtic  renaissance: 
W.  B.  Yeats  cannot  be  mistaken  for  an  English  poet. 
Similarly,  Synge  is  an  Irish  dramatist  in  a  sense  which 
makes  the  adjective  meaningless  when  applied  to  Sher- 


198      THE    CONTEMPOEARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

idan  or  Oscar  Wilde.  The  mere  accident  of  birth  in 
Ireland  has  never  been  sufficient  to  entitle  a  writer  to  a 
place  beside  those  who  have  given  us  a  national  litera- 
ture. 

In  an  early  number  of  Samhain,  Yeats  rejected,  by 
implication,  many  who  have  since  been  admitted  to 
the  Irish  Theatre,  when  he  said  :  "  If  our  organizations 
were  satisfied  to  interpret  a  writer  to  his  own  country- 
men merely  because  he  was  of  Irish  birth,  the  organiza- 
tions would  become  a  kind  of  trade-union  for  the  help- 
ing of  Irishmen  to  catch  the  ear  of  London  publishers 
and  managers,  and  for  upholding  writers  who  had  been 
beaten  by  abler  Englishmen."  In  view  of  contempo- 
rary circumstances  that  passage  sounds  prophetic. 
"Let  a  man  turn  his  face  to  us,"  wrote  Yeats  in  1904, 
"accepting  the  commercial  disadvantages  that  would 
bring  upon  him,  and  talk  of  what  is  near  our  hearts, 
Irish  Kings  and  Irish  Legends  and  Irish  Countrymen,  we 
would  find  it  a  joy  to  interpret  him."  We  have,  how- 
ever, changed  all  that  under  the  later  regime.  The 
Abbey  Theatre  is  now  at  the  disposal  of  rising  and  ac- 
cepted London  playwrights,  w^henever  their  usual  mar- 
ket is  not  available,  and  it  will  tend  to  be  so  increas- 
ingly, unless  some  halt  is  called. 

Nevertheless,  looking  over  the  first  ten  years  of  the 
Irish  National  Theatre,  one  cannot  but  be  impressed  by 
the  high  quality  of  its  achievement.  What  Yeats 
asked  for  at  the  outset  has  been  granted;  "the  half- 
dozen  minds  who  are  likely  to  be  the  dramatic  imagina- 
tion of  Ireland  for  this  generation"  have  produced  their 
work,  and  secured  an  audience.     In  addition  to  the 


SUMMARY   AND   CONCLUSION  199 

dramatists  of  the  first  importance,  there  are  the  others, 
who  have  been  adversely  criticized,  not  so  much  be- 
cause of  their  inferior  workmanship  as  on  account  of 
their  prominence  in  the  programs  of  the  Abbey 
Theatre.  It  would  be  absurd  to  pretend,  or  expect, 
that  every  playwright  must  be  of  the  same  merit.  There 
is  room  for  farce  and  melodrama,  of  the  most  elementary 
kind,  provided  they  be  assigned  to  their  proper  place. 
Even  the  worst  have  not  yet  reached  the  depths  of  the 
same  class  of  play  in  the  theatre  of  commerce,  and  are, 
therefore,  preferable. 

The  Irish  Theatre  does  not  address  itself  to  a  clique 
only,  but  to  the  general  public,  and  it  must  undoubt- 
edly cater  for  many  tastes.  Let  us  hope  that  it  will 
continue  to  do  so,  always  remembering  and  enforcing 
those  standards  and  ideals  which  were  its  point  of  de- 
parture and  its  greatest  strength.  It  would  be  a  pity 
if  its  destinies  should  be  intrusted  to  those  who  were 
ignorant,  or  contemptuous,  of  the  traditions  which  have 
given  dramatists  to  Ireland  worthy  of  her  poets.  It  is 
to  the  encouragement  of  such  dramatists  that  every- 
thing must  be  subordinated,  if  the  National  Theatre  is 
to  justify  its  name,  and  prove  equal  to  the  task  so  cour- 
ageously and  successfully  initiated  sixteen  years  ago. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  APPENDIX 


Contemporary  Irish  Dramatists 

The  dates  on  the  left  are  those  of  the  first  performance. 
On  the  right  are  the  date  and  place  of  first  publication  in 
book  form,  unless  when  otherwise  indicated. 

A.  E.  (George  W.  Russell). 

1902.  Deirdre.     Dublin,  1907. 

Republished  in  "  Imaginations  and  Reveries." 
Dublin,  1915  ;  New  York,  1916. 
Boyle,  William. 

1905.  The  Building  Fund.    Dublin,  1905. 

1906.  The  Eloquent  Dempsey.     Dublin,  1907. 
1906.     The  Mineral  Workers.     Dublin,  1907. 
1912.    Family  Failing.     Dublin,  1913. 

Campbell,  Joseph. 

1905.    The  Little  Cowherd  of  Slainge :   in  "  Uladh", 

November,  1904. 
1912.    Judgment.     Dublin,  1912. 

The  Turn-out:   in  "The  Irish  Review",  Au- 
gust, 1912. 
Colum,  Padraic. 

1903.  The  Saxon  Shilling. 

1903.    Broken  Soil,  revised  as  The  Fiddler's  House. 
201 


202      THE    CONTEMPORAKY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

1905.     The  Land.     Dublin,  1905. 

1907.  The  Fiddler's  House.     Dublin,  1907. 

1908.  The  Miracle  of  the  Corn  :  in  "  Studies."    Dub- 

lin, 1907. 
1910.     Thomas  Muskerry.     Dublin,  1910. 

1910.  The  Destruction  of  the  Hostel :  in  "  A  Boy  in 

Eirinn."     New  York,  1913 ;  London,  1916. 
The    Desert.      Dublin,    1912.     Under    title 
"Mogu  the  Wanderer."    Boston,  1917. 
1913.     The  Betrayal. 
DuNSANY,  Lord. 

1909.  The  Glittering  Gate. 

1911.  King  Argimenes  and  the  Unknown  Warrior. 

1912.  The  Golden  Doom. 

1913.  The  Lost  Silk  Hat. 

All  in  "Five  Plays."     London  and  New 
York,  1914. 

1914.  The  Tents  of  the  Arabs :  in  "  The  Smart  Set ", 

March,  1915. 

1915.  A  Night  at  an  Inn. 
Ervine,  St.  John  G. 

1911.  Mixed  Marriage.     Dublin,  1911. 

1912.  The  Magnanimous  Lover.     Dublin,  1912. 

1913.  The  Critics. 
1913.  The  Orangeman. 

All  in  "  Four  Plays."     Dublin,  1914. 
1913.    Jane  Clegg.     London,  1914 ;  New  York,  1915. 
1915.    John  Ferguson.     Dublin,  1915;    New  York, 
1916. 
FiTZMAURiCE,  George. 

1907.  The  Country  Dressmaker.     Dublin,  1914. 

1908.  The  Pie-dish. 
1913.    The  Magic  Glasses. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  APPENDIX  203 

The  Moonlighter. 
The  Dandy  Dolls. 

All  in  "  Five  Plays."   Dublin,  1914 ;  Boston, 
1917. 
Gregory,  Lady. 

1904.  Spreading    the    News :     in    "  Spreading    the 

News  and  other  Comedies."     Dublin,  1907. 

1905.  Kincora.     Dublin,  1905. 

1905.  The  White  Cockade.     Dublin,  1905. 

1906.  Hyacinth  Halvey  :  in  "  Seven  Short  Plays." 

Dublin  and  Boston,  1909. 
1906.     The  Gaol  Gate :  in  "  Seven  Short  Plays." 

1906.  The     Canavans :      in     "Irish    Folk-History 

Plays."     London  and  New  York,  1912. 

1907.  The  Jackdaw  :  in  "  Seven  Short  Plays." 
1907.     The  Rising  of  the  Moon  :  in  "  Spreading  the 

News  and  other  Comedies." 
1907.     The  Poorhouse  :  in  "  Spreading  the  News  and 

other  Comedies." 
1907.     Devorgilla :  in  "  Irish  Folk-History  Plays." 

1907.  The  Unicorn  from  the  Stars  (in  collaboration 

with  W.  B.  Yeats).     New  York,  1908. 

1908.  The    Workhouse    Ward:    in    "Seven    Short 

Plays." 

1909.  The  Image.     Dublin  and  Boston,  1910. 

1910.  The  Travelling  Man  :  in  "  Seven  Short  Plays." 
1910.     The    Full    Moon:      in    "New    Comedies." 

London  and  New  York,  1913. 

1910.  Coats  :  in  "  New  Comedies." 

1911.  The  Deliverer :  in  "  Irish  Folk-History  Plays." 

1912.  MacDarragh's  Wife,  revised  as  McDonough's 

Wife :  in  "  New  Comedies." 
1912.    The  Bogie  Men :  in  "New  Comedies." 


204      THE    CONTEMPORARY  DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

1912.     Darner's  Gold :   in  "  New  Comedies." 

Grania  :  in  "  Irish  Folk-History  Plays." 
1915.     Shanwalla. 

The  Golden  Apple.    London,  1916. 
MacDonagh,  Thomas. 

1908.     When  the  Dawn  is  Come.     Dublin,  1908. 

1908.     Sweet  Innisfail. 

1912.     Metempsychosis:    in  "The  Irish  Review", 

February,  1912. 
1915.     Pagans. 
Martyn,  Edward. 

1899.  The  Heather  Field.     London,  1899. 

1900.  Maeve.     London,  1899. 

1904.  An  Enchanted  Sea.     London,  1902. 

1905.  The  Tale  of  a  Town.     London,  1902. 
1912.     Grangecolman.     Dubhn,  1912. 

1914.  The  Dream  Physician. 

1915.  The  Privilege  of  Place. 
Mayne,  Rutherford. 

1906.  The  Turn  of  the  Road.   Dublin,  1907 ;  Boston, 

1917. 
1908.     The  Drone.     Dublin,  1909 ;  Boston,  1917. 

1908.  The  Troth.     Dublin,  1909;  Boston,  1917. 

1909.  The  Gomeril. 

1910.  The  Captain  of  the  Hosts. 

1911.  Red  Turf:  in  "The  Drone  and  other  Plays." 

Dublin,  1912 ;  Boston,  1917. 
1915.     If! 
Moore,  George. 

1900.  The   Bending   of   the   Bough.     London   and 

Chicago,  1900. 

1901.  Diarmuid  and  Grania  (in  collaboration  with 

W.  B.  Yeats). 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  APPENDIX  205 

Murray,  T.  C. 

1909.  The  Wheel  of  Fortune. 

1910.  Birthright.     Dubhn,  1911. 
1912.     Maurice  Harte.     DubHn,  1912. 

O'Kelly,  Seumas. 

1907.  The  Matchmakers.     DubHn,  1908. 

1908.  The  Flame  on  the  Hearth :  in  "  Three  Plays." 

Dublin,  1912. 

1909.  The  Shuiler's  Child.     Dublin,  1909. 

1910.  The  Homecoming :  in  "  Three  Plays." 

1914.  The  Bribe.     Dublin,  1914. 
PuRCELL,  Lewis. 

1904.  The  Reformers. 

1905.  The  Enthusiast. 

1906.  The  Pagan.     Dublin,  1907. 
Robinson,  Lennox. 

1908.  The  Clancy  Name :  in  "  Two  Plays."     Dublin, 

1911. 

1909.  The  Cross  Roads.     Dublin,  1911. 

1909.  The  Lesson  of  Life. 

1910.  Harvest :  in  "  Two  Plays." 
1912.     Patriots.     Dublin,  1912. 

1915.  The  Dreamers.    Dublin,  1915. 
Synge,  John  M. 

1903.  In  the  Shadow  of  the  Glen.    London,  1905. 

1904.  Riders  to  the  Sea.     London,  1905. 

1905.  The  Well  of  the  Saints.    Dublin,  London,  1905. 

1907.  The  Playboy  of  the  Western  World.     Dublin, 

1907. 

1909.  The  Tinker's  Wedding.     Dublin,  1907. 

1910.  Deirdre  of  the  Sorrows.     DubHn,  1910. 

All   in   Collected   Works.    Dublin,    1910; 
Boston,  1911. 


206      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

Ykats,  William  Butler. 

1894.     The  Land  of  Heart's  Desire.     London  and 

Chicago,  1894. 
1899.    The  Countess  Cathleen.     London  and  Boston, 
1892. 

1901.  Diarmuid  and  Grania. 

1902.  Cathleen  ni  HouHhan.  '  London,  1902. 

1902.  The  Pot  of  Broth:     in  "Plays  for  an  Irish 

Theatre",  vol.  IL  London  and  New  York, 
1904. 

1903.  The  Hour  Glass.     London,  1903. 

1903.  The  King's  Threshold :    in  "  Plays  for  an  Irish 

Theatre",  vol.  IH.     London,  1904. 

1904.  The  Shadowy  Waters.     London,  1900 ;     New 

York,  1901. 

1904.  On  Baile's  Strand :  in  "  Seven  Woods."  Dun- 
drum  and  New  York,  1903. 

1904.  Where  there  is  Nothing.  London  and  New 
York,  1903. 

1906.  Deirdre.     London,  1907. 

1907.  The  Unicorn  from  the  Stars  (in  collaboration 

with  Lady  Gregory).     New  York,  1908. 

1908.  The  Golden  Helmet.     New  York  and  Strat- 

ford-on-Avon,  1908. 

1910.  The  Green  Helmet.  Dundrum  and  New 
York,  1910. 

1916.     The  Player  Queen. 

See  also  Poetical  Works :  Volume  II,  Dra- 
matical Poems,  New  York,  1907 ;  Collected 
Works  in  Verse  and  Prose,  8  volumes, 
Stratford-on-Avon,  1908;  and  subsequent 
collected  editions. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  APPENDIX  207 

II 

Critical  Works 

Andrews,  Charlton.    The  Drama  To-day.    Philadel- 
phia, 1913. 
Archer,  William.    Poets  of  the  Younger  Generation. 

London,  1902. 
Bickley,  Francis.     J.  M.  Synge  and  the  Irish  Dramatic 

Movement.     London  and  Boston,  1912. 
BiTHELL,  Jethro.     W.  B.  Yeats.     Paris,  1913. 
BoRSA,  Mario.     II  Teatro  Inglese  Cofitemporaneo.   Milan, 

1906 ;  London  and  New  York,  1908. 
Bourgeois,   Maurice.      J.    M.    Synge    and    the  Irish 

Theatre.     London,  1913. 
Boyd,  Ernest  A.    Ireland's  Literary  Renaissance.     New 

York,  1916. 
Brown,   Stephen  J.     A   Guide   to   Books   on   Ireland, 

Part  L     Dublin,  1912. 
Carter,  Huntly.     The  New  Spirit  in  Drama  and  Art. 

London,  1912. 
Chandler,   F.  W.     Aspects  of  Modern  Drama.     New 

York,  1914. 
Clark,  B.  H.     British  and  American  Drama  of  To-day. 

New  York,  1915. 
Elton,  Oliver.     Modern  Studies.    London,  1907. 
Figgis,  Darrell.     Studies  and  Appreciations.     London 

and  New  York,  1912. 
Gregory,   Lady   Augusta.    Our   Irish   Theatre.     New 

York,  1913 ;  London,  1914. 
GwYNNE,  Stephen.     To-Day  and  To-Morrow  in  Ireland. 

Dublin,  1903. 
Hamilton,  Clayton.     Studies  in  Stagecraft.    New  York, 

1915. 


208      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA   OF   IRELAND 

Hone,  J.  M.    W.  B.  Yeats.    Dublin,  1915 ;    New  York, 

1916. 
Howe,  P.  P.     The  Repertory  Theatre.     London,  1910. 
J.  M.  Synge.      A  Critical  Study.     London  and  New 

York,  1912. 
HuNEKER,  James.     The  Pathos  of  Distance.     New  York 

and  London,  1913. 
Jackson,  Holbrook.    All  Manner  of  Folk.    London  and 

New  York,  1912. 
The   Eighteen    Nineties.      London    and    New    York, 

1913. 
Kennedy,  J.  M.     English  Literature :   1880-1905.     Lon- 
don, 1912. 
Krans,  H.  S.     W.  B.  Yeats  and  the  Irish  Literary  Re- 
vival.    New  York,  1904  ;  London,  1905. 
Lewisohn,  L.     The  Modern  Drama.     New  York,  1915. 
Mair,  G.  H.     English  Literature  :  Modern.     London  and 

New  York,  1911. 
Modern  English  Literature.     London  and  New  York, 

1914. 
Malye,  Jean.     La  Litterature  Irlandaise  Contemporaine. 

Paris,  1913. 
Masefield,  John.     John  M.  Synge:     A  Few  Personal 

Recollections.     Dundrum  and  New  York.     1915. 
Mason,  Eugene.     A  Book  of  Preferences  in  Literature. 

London,  1915;  New  York,  1916. 
Monahan,  M.     Nova  Hibernia.     New  York,  1914. 
Montague,  C.  E.     Dramatic  Values.     London  and  New 

York,  1911. 
Moore,  George.     Hail  and  Farewell.    3  vols.    London 

and  New  York,  1911-1914. 
Nevinson,   H.   W.    Books   and  Personalities.    London 

and  New  York,  1905. 


BIBLIOGEAPHICAL  APPENDIX  209 

Oliver,  D.  E.  The  English  Stage :  Its  Origins  and 
Modern  Development.     London,  1912. 

Olivero,  F.     Shidi  sul  Romanticismo  Inglese.    Bari,  1914. 

Paul-Dubois,  L.  L'Irlande  Contemporaine.  Paris,  1907 ; 
Dublin,  1911. 

Reid,  Forrest.  W.  B.  Yeats ;  A  Critical  Study.  Lon- 
don and  New  York,  1915. 

Walbrook,  H.  M.     Nights  at  the  Play.     London,  1911. 

Walkley,  a.  B.  Drama  and  Life.  London,  1907 ;  New 
York,  1911. 

Weygandt,  C.  Irish  Plays  and  Playwrights.  Boston 
and  London,  1913. 

Yeats,  W.  B.  The  Cutting  of  an  Agate.  New  York, 
1912. 

Ill 

Periodicals 

Bewley,  Charles.    The  Irish  National  Theatre.    Dub- 

Hn  Review,  January,  1913. 
BiCKLEY,  Francis.     Deirdre.     Irish  Review,  July,  1912. 
Birmingham,  George.     The  Literary  Movement  in  Ire- 
land.    Fortnightly  Review,  December,  1907. 
Bourgeois,  Maurice.     Synge  and  Loti.    Westminster 

Review,  May,  1913. 
Boyd,  Ernest  A.     The  Abbey  Theatre.     Irish  Review, 

February,  1913. 
Le   Theatre  Irlandais.     Revue  de  Paris,  September  1, 

1913. 
Cazamian,  Madeleine.     Le   Theatre  de  J.   M.   Synge. 

Revue  du  Mois,  October,  1911. 
Clark,  James  M.     The  Irish  Literary  Movement.     Eng- 

lische  Studien,  July,  1915. 


210      THE    CONTEMPORARY   DRAMA    OF   IRELAND 

CoLUM,    Padraic.      The    Irish    Literary    Movement. 
Forum,  January,  1915. 

CoNNELL,   NoRREYS.     John  Millington  Synge.     English 
Review,  June,  1909. 

Duncan,  E.  M.    The  Writings  of  W.  B.  Yeats.     Fort- 
nightly Review,  February,  1909. 

DuNSANY,  Lord.     Romance    and    the    Modern    Stage. 
National  Review,  July,  1911. 

GuNNELL,    Doris.     Le  Nouveau  Theatre   Irlandais.     La 
Revue,  January  1,  1912. 

Gunning,   G.   Hamilton.     The    Decline  of    the    Abbey 
Theatre  Drama.     Irish  Review,  February,  1912. 

GwYNNE,    Stephen.     The     Irish    Theatre.     Fortnightly 
■     Review,  1901. 

The    Uncommercial    Theatre.      Fortnightly    Review, 
December,    1902. 

MacGrath,  John,     W.   B.   Yeats  and  Ireland.     West- 
minster Review,  July,  1911. 

Maguire,  Mary  C.    John  Synge.     Irish  Review,  March, 
1911. 

Mencken,  H.  L.     Synge  and  Others.     Smart  Set,  Octo- 
ber, 1912. 

Mennloch,  Walter.     Dramatic  Values.     Irish  Review, 
September,  1911. 

Montgomery,  K.  L.     Some  Writers  of  the  Celtic  Renais- 
sance.    Fortnightly  Review,  September,  1911. 

Reid,  Forrest.     The  Early  Work  of  W.  B.  Yeats.    Irish 
Review,  January,  1912. 

Tennyson,    Charles.     Irish    Plays    and    Playwrights. 
Quarterly  Review.     July,  1911. 
The  Rise  of  the   Irish  Theatre.     Contemporary  Re- 
view, August,  1911. 


INDEX 


Abbey  playwrights,  163-169 

Abbey  Theatre,  DubUn,  38, 
39,  43,  49,  54,  61,  79, 
99,  117,  122,  126,  127, 
138,  140,  149,  153, 
163,  166,  167,  170, 
172,  175,  181,  185, 
193,  195,  197,  198 

Abbey  Theatre  Company,  43 

Abbey  Theatre  Repertory, 
67,  85,  137,  138,  140, 
143,  149,  150,  164, 
183,  191,  196,  199 

Abbey  Theatre  School,  40, 
43-44 

"Abbey  Theatre  Series",  99, 
113,  135,  180 

A.  E.   (George  W.  Russell), 
47,    48,    81,    82,    107, 
111,     115,    121,    122, 
164 
Quoted,  164 

Works :     Co-operation   and 
Nationality,  115 
New  Songs  (anthology), 
111 

Alice  and  a  Family,  180,  189 

AUgood,  Miss  Sara,  42,  43, 
132,  194 

All  Ireland  Review,   The,  33 

Ancient  Concert  Rooms, 
Dublin,  27 

Antoine,  Mons.,  33 

Apostle,  The,  24 

Aran  Islands,  The,  90,  94 

Archer,  WilUam,  14,  17 

Arrah  na  Pogue,  164 


Arrenopia,  4 

Avenue  Theatre,  London,  14, 
37,49 

Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  196 

Belfast,  171,  182 

Belfast  Protestant  National 

Society,  171 
Bell  Branch,  The,  61 
Beltaine,  22,  171 
Note  of,  11 
Quoted,  8,  9,  11,  21 
Successor  to,  22 
Bending  of  the  Bough,    The, 
discussion  of,  23-25 
Produced,  6 
PubUshed,  22 
BerUn,  3 

Bernhardt,  Mme.  Sarah,  41 
Bierce,  Ambrose,  155 
Birmingham,  George,  129 
Birthright,  168 
Blackwood,  Algernon,  155 
Bogie  Men,  The,  128 
Book  of  Irish  Verse,  A  (Yeats* 

anthology),  50 
Book  of  Saints  and  Wonders, 

A,  123, 125 
Book  of  Wonder,  The,  154 
Boucieault,  Dion,  159 
Boy  in  Eirinn,  ^,118 
Boyd,  Thomas,  61 

Work:      To     the     Leandn 
Sidhe,  61 
Boyle,  WilUam,  121,  143 
Comedies  of,  138-141 
Popularity  of ,  121-122, 140 


211 


212 


INDEX 


Boyle,  William —  (continued) 
Works :      Building     Fund, 
The,  138,  139,  140 
Eloquent  Dempsey,   The, 

138,  139 
Family  Failing,  138,  139, 

140,  176 
Kish  of  Brogues,  A,  138 
Mineral    Workers,    The, 
138,  139,  140 
Brian  of  Banba,  171 
Bribe,    The,   discussed,    152- 
153 
Produced,  150 
Brieux,  Eugene,  2 
Broken  Soil,  111 
Discussed,  112-113 
Produced,  37,  110,  112 
Published,  112 
Rewritten      as      Fiddler's 
House,  112 
Building     Fund,     The,     dis- 
cussed, 139,  140 
Produced    and    published, 
138 

Calderon,  4 

Campbell,   Joseph,    171-172, 
173,  174 
Works :      Judgment,     173, 
174 
Little  Cowherd  of  Slainge, 

The,  171-172 
Hearing  Stones,  173-174 
Campbell,  Mrs.  Patrick,  42 
Canavans,  The,  130,  136 

Discussed,  134-135 
Casadh     an     t-Sugdin     (The 
Twisting  of  the  Rope), 
6,32 
Casey,  W.  F.,  164 

Work:    Man  Who  Missed 
the  Tide,  The,  164 
Casting      Out      of      Martin 
Whelan,  The,  168 


Cathleen  ni  Houlihan,  71,  171 
Discussed,  63-66 
Produced,  33,  36,  37,  71 
Pubhshed,  36 
Celtic  Renaissance,  The,  2,  4, 

5,  47,  48,  49,  197 
Celtic  Twilight,  49,  50 
Cervantes,  106 
Charwoman's  Daughter,   The, 

180 
Chekhov,  Anton,  7,  30 
Choir,     Palestrina     (Dublin 

Cathedral),  12 
Clancy  Name,  The,  166 
Coats,  128,  129,  137 
Collected  Works  (Yeats),  51, 

54,  67,  76 
Colleen  Bawn,  164 
Colum,  Padraic,  36,  88,  110- 
120,     121,     149.     168, 
169,  191 
Birthplace,  117 
Contribution       to       Irish 

drama,  116 
Debut  of,  110 
Quoted,  117 

Works  :   Boy  in  Eirinn,  A, 
118 
Broken  Soil,d7,  no,  in, 

112-113 
Desert,    The    (Mogu    the 

Wanderer),  118-119 
Destruction  of  the  Hostel, 

117,  118 
Eoghan's  Wife,  111 
Fiddler's     House,      The, 

112-113,  119,  176 
Foleijs,  The,  111 
Kingdom  of  the    Young, 

The,  110 
Land,  The,  39,  113-115, 

119,  195 
Miracle  of  the  Corn,  117 
Saxon  Shilling,  The,  110 
Studies,  117 


INDEX 


213 


Colum,    Padraio,    Works  — 
(continued) 
Thomas  Muskerry,  115- 

116,  137 
Wild  Earth,  111 
Connell,  Norreys,  169 
Works:    Piper,  The,  169 
Time,  169 
Co-operation  and  Nationality, 

115 
Countess  Cathleen,  The,  11,  32, 
62,  63,  67,  100 
Discussed,  55-59 
Produced,  6,  53,  54,  58 
PubUshed,  53 
Countess  Cathleen  and  Various 
Legends    and     Lyrics, 
49 
Country     Dressmaker,      The, 
146,  147 
Discussed,  144-145 
Produced,  143 
Published,  144 
Cousins,  James,  36,  61 
Works  :    Bell  Branch,  The, 
61 
Racing  Lug,  The,  171 
Sleep  of  the  King,  The, 
36 
Critics,  The,  discussed,  184- 
185 
Produced    and    published, 
181 
Crock  of  Gold,  The,  111,  180 
Cross  Roads,  The,  164-165 
Cuala  Press,  86 
Cuchulain  of  Muirthemne,  83, 

105,  123,  124-125 
Cuchullin  Saga,  The,  125 
Cuckoo's  Nest,  The,  169 

Damer's  Gold,  128 
Dandy  Dolls,  The,  discussed, 
147-148 
Published,  144 


Death  of  Cuchullin,  78 
Deirdre  (A.  E.),  64,  66,  107, 
108,  111  * 

Produced,  33,  36,  171 
Published,  36 
Deirdre  (Yeats),  42,  43,  108 

Discussed,  81-83,  107 
Deirdre   of  the   Sorrows,   81, 
92,  130,  136 
Discussed,  107-109 
Produced,  107 
Published,  106 
Deliverer,  The,  130,  134 
de  Max,  Mons.,  41 
Demi-Gods,  The,  180 
Desert,  The  {Mogu  the  Wan- 
derer), 118-119 
Destruction  of  the  Hostel,  The, 

117,  118 
Destruction   of  the   House  of 

Da  Derga,  117 
Devorgilla,  130 

Discussed,  132 
Diarmuid  and  Grania,  32 

Produced,  6 
Dickens,  Charles,  180,  189 
DolVs  House,  The,  19,  112 
Donegal  peasantry,  173 
Don  Quixote,  106 
Dreamers,  The,  167-168 
Dreamer's  Tales,  A,  154,  155 
Dream  Physician,  The,  30 
Drone,   The,  discussed,   176- 
177 
PubUshed,  175 
DubUn,   13,  37,  48,  49,  84, 
90,  171,  173,  184,  185, 
193 
Dublin  University,  90 
Dublin  University  Review,  49, 

53 
Dundrum,  51 
Dunn  Emer  Press,  86 
Dunsany,  Lord,  85,  88,  118, 
148,  153-161 


214 


INDEX 


Dunsany,  Lord  —  (continued) 
Inventiveness  of,  154-155, 

162,  163 
Quintessence  of,  159 
Successor  to  Yeats,  162 
Miscellaneous  Works :  Book 
of  Wonder,  The,  154 
Dreamer's  Tales,  A,  154, 

155 
Fifty-one  Tales,  154-155 
Gods  of  Pegana,  The,  154 
Sword  of  Welleran,  The, 

154 
Time  and  the  Gods,  154 
Plays  :  Glittering  Gate,  The, 

154,  155-156 

Gods  of  the  Mountain, 
The,  155,  157-159,  161 

Golden  Doom,  The,  155, 
159 

King  Argimenes  and  the 
Unknown         Warrior, 

155,  156-157 

Lost  Silk  Hat,  The,  155, 

159-160 
Night  at  the  Inn,  A,  155, 

161-162 
Tents  of  the  Arabs,  The, 

155,  160-161 

Echegaray,  Jos6,  8 
Eglinton,  John,  12,  48 
Elizabeth  Cooper,  24 
Eloquent  Dempsey,   The,  dis- 
cussed, 139 

Produced  and  published,  138 
Emmet,  Robert,  167,  168 
Enchanted     Sea,     The,     dis- 
cussed, 25-26 

Produced,  27 

Published,  22 
Enthusiast,   The,  181 
Eoghan's   Wife,   111 
Erasmus  Smith  School  (Dub- 
Un),  48 


Ervine,    St.   John,    179-192, 
196 
Criticism  of,  188,  189,  190- 

192 
Manager  of  Abbey  Theatre, 

181,  185,  191 
Miscellaneous  works :  Alice 
and  a  Family,  180,  189 
Mrs.  Martin's  Man,  179 
Sir  Edivard  Carson  and 
the    Ulster    Movement, 
192 
Plays:     Critics,    The,    181, 
184-185 
Jane  Clegg,  181,  192 
John  Ferguson,  181,  185, 

190,  192 
Magnanimous  Lover,  The, 
181,  183-184,  185,  192 
Mixed     Marriage,     179, 
180, 181-182, 185, 186, 
188,  190 
Orangeman,  The,  181, 183 
Rank,  179,  189-190 
Versatility,  181 
Esther  Waters,  24 

Fairy  and  Folk  Tales  of  the 
Irish  Peasantry,  59,  72 
Fairy  Music,  61 
Family  Failing,  176 
Discussed,  139,  140 
Produced    and    published, 
138 
Farr,  ]SIiss  Florence,  10 
Fay,  Frank,  33,  40,  43,  81 
Collection  of,  40-41 
Voice  of,  42 
Fay,  W.  C,  33,  40 
Departure  of,  44 
Talent  of,  42-43,  72 
Fay  brothers,  10,  34,  35,  37, 
40,  43,  45,  66,  67,  79, 
81,  88,  110,  119,  152, 
171,  194 


INDEX 


215 


Fay's    Irish   National    Dra- 
matic   Company,    33, 
34,  36,  39,  64,  71,  111, 
122,  140 
Feast  of  Bricriu,  The,  83 
Ferguson,  Samuel,  48 
Fiddler's  House,  The  {Broken 
Soil),  119,  176 
Discussed,  112-113 
PubHshed,  112 
Fifty-one  Tales,  154-155 
Fitzmaurice,  George,  143-149 
Rank  of,  149 
Use    of    idiom,    145,    147, 

148-149 
Works :       Country     Dress- 
maker, The,  143,  144- 
145,  146,  147 
Dandy  Dolls,    The,   144, 

147-148 
Magic  Glasses,  The,  144, 

147-148 
Moonlighter,     The,     144, 

146-147 
Pie-dish,   The,  143,   144, 
145-146 
Five  Plays  (Dunsany),  155 
Five     Plays      (Fitzmaurice), 

144,  145 
Foleys,  The,  111 
Fool  of  the  World,  The,  74 
Freie  Biihne  (Theatre),  1 
Full  Moon,  The,  128,  129 

Gaelic  drama,  4 

Literature,  4 
Gaehc    Repertory    Theatre, 

170 
Gaiety  Theatre,  Manchester, 

39 
Gaol    Gate,    The,    127,     128, 

137 
General  John  Regan,  129,  130 
Ghosts,  17,  112 
Giraldi,  Giovanni,  4 


Glittering     Gate,     The,      dis- 
cussed, 155-156 
Produced,  154,  155 
Published,  155 
Gods  and  Fighting  Men,  123 
Gods  of  Pegana,  The,  154 
Gods  of  the  Mountain,    The, 
161 
Discussed,  157-159 
Published,  155 
Golden  Doom,  The,  discussed, 
159 
PubHshed,  155 
Goldsmith,  Ohver,  197 
Gombeen  Man,  The,  164,  168 
Gonne,  Miss  Maud,  66 
Grangecolman,  discussed,  28- 
29 
Produced,  28 
Grania,  130,  136 

Discussed,  132-134 
Green    Helmet,    The    {Golden 
Helmet),  52,  134 
Discussed,  83-84 
Produced,  83 
Gregory,  Lady,  6,  34,  36,  37, 
39,    64,    71,    83,    104, 
121,     143,     149,     150, 
176,  194,  196 
Collaboration  with  Yeats, 
64,    67,    70,    71,    72, 
122-123 
Comedies,  126-130 
Debt  to  O'Grady,  124 
Folk  history  plays,  130-138 
Kiltartan  English,  105,  126 
Literary  position,  123,  138 
Miscellaneous  works :  Book 
of  Saints  and  Wonders, 
A,  123,  125 
Cuchulain       of       Muir- 
themne,   83,    105,    123, 
124-125 
Gods  and  Fighting  Men, 
123 


216 


INDEX 


Gregory,  Lady,  Miscellaneous 

works —  (continued) 
Killartan   History   Book, 

The,  123 
Killartan   Wonder  Book, 

The,  123 
Our  Irish  Theatre,  122 
Poets  and  Dreamers,  123, 

125 
Plays :     Bogie    Men,    The, 

128 
Canavans,  The,  130,  134- 

135,  136 
Coats,  128,  129,  137 
Darner's  Gold,  128 
Deliverer,  The,  130,  134 
Devorgilla,  130,  132 
Full  Moon,  The,  128,  129 
Gaol  Gate,  The,  127,  128, 

137 
Grania,     130,     132-134, 

136 
Hyacinth  Halvey,  127 
Image,    The,    127,    129- 

130,  131 
Irish  Folk  History  Plays, 

127,  130,  136 
Jackdaw,  The,  127 
Killartan    Molibre,    The, 

126 
Kincora,  130,  131,  135 
L'Avare  (translation),  126 
Le    Medecin    malgrS    lui 

(translation),  126 
Les  Fourberies  de  Scapin 

(translation),  126 
McDonough's  Wife,  128 
New  Comedies,  127,  128 
Poorhouse,  The,  127 
Rising  of  the  Moon,  The, 

127,  128,  137 
Seven    Short    Plays,    72, 

127 
Spreading  the  News,  39, 

127,  128 


Travelling  Man,  The,  127 
Twenty-jive,  37,  127 
Unicorn  from  the  Stars, 
The  (with  W.  B. 
Yeats),  67,  68-70,  126 
White  Cockade,  The,  130, 

135-136 
Workhouse    Ward,    The, 
127,  128,  137 
Popularity,  121,  137 
Service   to   Irish  Theatre, 

122-123 
Synge's  influence  on,  133- 

134,  136 
Use  of  idiom,  105,  125 
Writing  and  environment, 
121-126 
Griffith,  Arthur,  111 
Guinan,  John,  169 

Works :       Cuckoo's     Nest, 
The,  169 
Plough-Lifters,  The,  169 


Hail  and  Farewell,  12,  22 
Harvest,  165-166 
Hauptmann,   Gerhart,  2,  8, 

196 
Heather  Field,  The,  5,  19,  29, 
195 
Discussed,  14-18 
Produced,  6,  13 
PubUshed,  13 
Translated,  13 
Hedda  Gabler,  19,  112 
History  of  Ireland:    Cuculain 
and   His   Contempora^ 
ries,  124 
History   of   Ireland:     Heroic 

Period,  124 
Hobson,  Bulmer,  171 

Brian  of  Banba,  171 
Homecoming,  The,  149,  150 
Hopper,  Nora,  61 
Fairy  Music,  61 


INDEX 


217 


Horniman,  Miss  A.  E.  F.,  38 
Established    Gaiety  Thea- 
tre, 39 
Gift  to  Irish  Players,  38, 
142 
Houghton,  Stanley,  181 
Hour  Glass,    The,   discussed, 
73-74 
Produced,  37,  72 
PubUshed,  72 
Hull,  Eleanor,  125 
Hyacinth  Halvey,  127 
Hyde,  Douglas,  6,  104,  126, 
149 
Works :      Tioisting    of    the 
Rope,  The,  6,  32 
Love  Songs  of  Connacht, 
104 


Ibsen,  Henrik,  8,  14,  29,  112 
Influence  of,  2,  11,  17,  18, 

19,29 
Works  :   Doll's  House,  The, 
19,  112 
Ghosts,  17,  112 
Hedda  Gabler,  19,  112 
Lady  from  the  Sea,  The, 

19,  25 
Rosmersholm,  28 
Wild  Duck,  The,  17,  148 
"Ibsenite  movement",  5 
///,  produced,  175,  195 
Image,    The,    127,     129-130, 

131 
Independent    Theatre,  Lon- 
don, 1,  5,  8,  14,  18 
Independent   Theatre   Com- 
pany, 28 
Independent  Theatre  Move- 
ment, 14 
Interior,  96 

In  the  Seven  Woods,  52 
In  the  Shadow  of  the  Glen,  43, 
80,98 


Discussed,  93-94 
Produced,  37,  92,  93,  110 
In  Wicklow,  West  Kerry  and 

Connemara,  91 
Irish       Dramatic       Revival 
(Movement),    2,    3-5, 
12,  27,  32,  33,  34,  35, 
37,  43,  44,  47,  53,  54, 
67,    85,    89,    99,    102, 
121,     122,     138,     142, 
155,     170,     171,     175, 
178,  179,  190 
Origin  and  Founders  of,  5 
Irish  Fireside,  The,  49 
Irish     Folk     History     Plays, 

127,  130,  136 
Irish  Literary  Revival,  2,  3, 
4,  47,  49,  59,  122,  179, 
180,  185,  196,  197 
Irish     Literary     Society     of 

New  York,  37 
Irish        Literary        Theatre 
(original),   14,   19,  22, 
27,  30,  32,  33,  34,  35, 
36,    40,    51,    53,    81, 
110,     111,     133,     152, 
194 
History  of,  5-6 
Plays   produced,   6-7,    13, 

19,  32,  53,  58 
Purpose  of,  8-10 
Sources  of,  7 
Irish  Monthly,  The,  49 
Irish  National  Theatre   (see 
also    Abbey    Theatre) 
3,  4,  10,  12,  30,  32-46, 
60,  64,  87,  90,  92,  122, 
123, 126, 141,  149, 154, 
162,  169,  174,  178, 185, 
190,  193,  194,  195 
Achievement  of,  198-199 
Actors  of,  33 
Birth  of,  4-5 

Change  in  program,  193- 
199 


218 


INDEX 


Irish  National  Theatre — (con- 

iimied) 
Fay's  contribution  to,  40, 

67 
Gift  to,  38 
House  of,  38 
Influence  of,  3 
Recent     tendencies,     119, 

121,  140,  142 
Sources  of,  7,  33,  39,  40, 

111 
Irish  National  Theatre  (Dra- 
matic)   Society,   5,   8, 

34,    39,    75,   88,    110, 

122 
Program  of,  36,  37 
Prospectus  of,  36 
Irish  Players,  8,  39,  127,  150, 

173,  194 
Acting  of,  34,  40,  41 
First     tour     abroad,     37, 

139 
French  influence  on,  41 
Homo  of,  38 
New  company  of,  43,  44, 

119 
Speech  of,  10,  42 
Training  of,  40-41 
Irish  Texts  Society,  125 
"Irish    Theatre,    The,"    30, 

194,  195 
Island  of  Statues,  The,  53 

Jackdaw,  The,  127 

Jane  Clegg,  181,  192 

John  BulVs  Other  Island,  4, 

188 
John  Ferguson,  190,  192 

Produced,  181,  185 

PubUshed,  181 
John  Sherman,  69 
Johnson,  Lionel,  49 
Johnston,  Charles,  48 
Judgment,  discussed,  174 

Produced,  173 


Kerrigan,  Mr.  (actor),  43 
Kiltartan,  Galway,  126 
Kiltartan  EngUsh,  105,  126, 

145,  149 
Kiltartan  History  Book,  The, 

123 
Kiltartan  Molihre,  The,  126 
Kiltartan  Wonder  Book,  The, 

123 
Kincora,  130 

Discussed,  130-131 
Produced,  131 
Published,  131,  135 
Revised,  131 
King  Argimenes  and  the  Un- 
known    Warrior,    dis- 
cussed, 156-157 
Produced,  156 
PubUshed,  155 
Kingdom  of  the  Young,  The, 

110 
King's  Threshold,  The,  43 
Discussed,  79-80 
Produced,  37 
PubUshed,  79 
Kish  of  Brogues,  A,  138 
Kismet,  118 
Knight  of  the  Burning  Pestle, 

The,  196 
Knoblauch,  Edward,  118 
Kottabos,  90 

Lady  Frotn  the  Sea,  The,  19, 25 
Land,  The,  119,  195 

Discussed,  113-115 

Produced,  39,  113 

PubUshed,  113 
Land  Act  of  1903,  113 
Land  of  Heart's  Desire,  The, 
discussed,  59-62 

Produced,   14,  37,  49,  53, 
59,  61 
Last  Feast  of  Fianna,  The,  6 
Laurence,  D.  H.,  181 
L'Avare  (translation),  126 


INDEX 


219 


Laying    of    the    Foundation, 

The,  152 
Leader,  The,  25 
Leinster  Stage  Society,  170 
Le  Medecin  malgre  lui  (trans- 
lation), 126 
Les     Fourberies     de     Sea-pin 

(translation),  126 
Limerick,  4 
Little     Cowherd     of    Slainge, 

The,  171-172 
London,  3,  5,  7,  13,  14,  18, 

37,  42,  48,  49,  53,  98, 

179,  181,  185 
London    Court    Theatre    or 

Stage  Society,  67,  196 
Lost  Silk  Hat,  The,  discussed, 

159-160 
PubUshed,  155 
Love  Songs  of  Connacht,  104 

MacDonagh,    Thomas,    111, 
167,  195 
When  the  Dawn  is  Come, 
167 
Machen,  Arthur,  155 
Macleod,     Fiona      (WiUiam 

Sharp),  11 
"MacNamara,  Gerald",  172 
Works  :     Thompson  in  Tir- 
na-n'Og,  172 
When   the    Mist   does   be 
on  the  Bog,  172 
Maeterlinck,  Maurice,  8,  63, 

96 
Maeve,  5,  25,  29 
Discussed,  19-22 
Produced,  6,  13 
Published,  13 
Magee,  Miss  Eithne,  43,  194 
Magic  Glasses,  The,  discussed, 
147-148 
Published,  144 
Magnanimous     Lover,     The, 
185,  192 


Discussed,  183-184 
Produced    and    published, 
181 
Manchester,  England,  181 
Mangan,  James  Clarence,  48 
Man   Who   Missed  the   Tide, 

The,  164 
Martin  Luther,  24 
Martyn,   Edward,   5,   12-31, 
32,    34,    36,    62,    90, 
195,  196 
Biography  of,  12-13 
Ibsen's  influence  on,  5,  17- 

19 
Launches  "Irish  Theatre ", 

194-195 
Novel,  13 
Purpose  of,  7-8,  14 
Verse,  13 

Works :    Dream  Physician, 
The,  30 
Enchanted  Sea,  The,  22, 

25-27 
Grangecolman,  28-29 
Heather  Field,  The,  5,  6, 
13,  14-18,  19,  29,  195 
Maeve,  5,  6,   13,   19-22, 

25,  29 
Morgante,  the  Lesser,  13 
Place  Hunters,  The,  25 
Tale  of  a  Town,  The,  22, 
23,  24,  25,  27 
Masefield,  John,  96 
Matchmakers,  The,  149 
Maurice  Harte,  168 
Mayne,  Rutherford,  172,  173, 
175-178,  179,  195 
Studies  of  peasant  hfe,  178 
Works:    Drone,   The,   175, 
176-177 
///,  175,  195 
Red  Turf,  175,  177-178 
Troth,  The,  175,  177 
Turn  of  the  Road,   The, 
172,  175-176 


220 


INDEX 


McDonough's  Wife,  128 
Mearing  Stones,  173-174 
Mechanics'    Institute,    Dub- 
lin, 38 
Milligan,  Miss  Alice,  6,  7 

Last  Feast  of  Fianna,  The,  6 
Milton,  196 

Mineral    Workers,    The,    dis- 
cussed, 139-140 
Produced    and    published, 
138 
Miracle  of  the  Corn,  117 
Mixed    Marriage,    179,    185, 
18G,  188,  190 
Discussed,  181-182 
Published,  180 
Mogu     the     Wanderer     {The 
Desert),         pu])lished, 
118-119 
Moonlighter,    The,   discussed, 
146-147 
Published,  144 
Moore,  George,  5,  18,  22,  23, 
24,  27,  30,  34,  36,  133 
Analysis    of    Independent 

Theatre  by,  14 
Criticism  of,  24 
Preface  by,  13,  14 
Purpose  of,  7-8 
Quoted,  17,  21,  22,  47 
Works  :   Apostle,  The,  24 
Bending    of    the    Bough, 
The,  6,  22,  23,  24,  25 
Diarmuid     and     Grania 
(in   collaboration),    6, 
32 
Elizabeth  Cooper,  24 
Esther  Waters,  24 
Hail  and  Farewell,  12,  22 
Martin  Luther,  24 
Strike  at  Arlingford,  The, 
14,24 
Morgante  the  Lesser,  13 
Morte  d' Arthur,  125 
Mosada,  53 


Mrs.  Martin's  Man,  179 
Murray,  T.  C,  153,  164,  168 
Works :   Birthright,  168 
Maurice  II arte,  168 

National  Players,  27,  170 
New   Comedies   (Lady  Greg- 
ory), 127,  128 
New  Songs  (A.  E.),  Ill 
New  York  City,  13,  155 
Night    at    the    Inn,    A,    dis- 
cussed, 161-162 
Produced,  155 
North  American  Review,  75 

O'Donnell,  F.  H.,  attack  on 

Yeats,  62-63 
O'Donovan,  Mr.  (actor),  43 
O'Grady,     Standish     James, 
2,  6,  11,  124,  125 
Called  "Father  of  the  Re- 

\-ival",  124 
Works :      History    of    Ire- 
land:     Cuculain    and 
His      Contemporaries, 
124 
History       of       Ireland: 
Heroic  Period,  124 
O'Kelly,  Seuraas,  149-153 
Works:    Bribe,    The,    150, 
152-153 
Homecoming,    The,    149, 

150 
Laying  of  the  Foundation, 

The,  152 
Matchmakers,  The,  149 
Shuiler's  Child,  The,  149- 

150,  150-152 
Stranger,  The,  149,  150 
Three  Plays,  149 
On  Bailees  Strand,  43,  83 
Discussed,  78-79 
Produced,  79 
Published,  78 


INDEX 


221 


O'Neill,  Miss  Moira,  43,  194 
Orangeman,    The,    discussed, 

183 
Produced    and    published, 

181 
Ormond    Dramatic    Society, 

33 
O'SuUivan,  Seumas,  36,  111 
Our  Irish  Theatre,  122 
Oxford  University,  13 

Pagan,  The,  172 
Paris,  3,  49,  155 
Patriots,  166-167 
Pearse,  Padraic,  117 
Phedre,  41 

PhiUips,  Stephen,  87 
Pie-dish,  The,  discussed,  145- 
146 
Produced,  143 
Published,  144 
Pinero,  Sir  Arthur,  14 
Piper,  The,  169 
Place  Hunters,  The,  25 
Playboy  of  the  Western  World, 
The,  43,  63,  108,  109, 
136,     137,     138,     148, 
178,   195 
Discussed,  98,  101-106 
Produced,  59 
Published,  98-99 
Player  Queen,  The,  84 
Players  Club,  The,  27 
Plays  for  an  Irish  Theatre,  54, 

64,  67,  71,  79 
Plough-Lifters,  The,  169 
Plunkett,  Joseph,  195 
Poe,  Edgar  Allan,  155 
Poems  (Yeats),  50 
Poems       and       Translations 

(Synge),  92 
Poets  and  Dreamers,  123,  125 
Poorhouse,  The,  rewritten  as 
The  Workhouse  Ward, 
127 


Pot  of  Broth,  A,  37 
Discussed,  72 

Produced    and    published, 
36,  71 
Purcell,  Lewis,  171,  172,  173, 
181 
Works :     Enthusiast,    The, 
181 
Pagan,  The,  172 
Reformers,  The,  171 

Quintessence  of  Ibsenism,  19 

Racing  Lug,  The,  171 
Ray,  R.  J.,  153,  168 

Works :      Casting    Out    of 
Martin    Whelan,    The, 
168 
Gombeen  Man,  The,  164, 

168 
White  Feather,  The,  168 
Red  Turf,  discussed,  177-178 

PubUshed,  175 
Reformers,  The,  171 
Reid,  Forrest,  47 
Reinhardt's    Theatre,    Max 

(BerHn),  101 
Responsibilities,  52,  72 
Reveries   over    Childhood    and 

Youth,  75 
Rhymers'  Club,  49 
Riders  to  the  Sea,  The,  109 
Discussed,  94-96 
Produced,  39 
Rising  of  the  Moon,  The,  127 
Discussed,  128 
Produced,  137 
Robinson,  Lennox,  153,  164, 
165-168 
Works  :  Clancy  Name,  The, 
166 
Cross  Roads,  The,  164-165 
Dreamers,  The,  167-168 
Harvest,  165-166 
Patriots,  166-167 


222 


INDEX 


Ros7nershoIm,  28 
Russell,     George     W. 

A.  E. 
Ryan,  Fred,  152 


See 


Samhain,  22,  32,  33,  35,  36, 
40,  41,  45,  46,  64,  66, 
142,  171,  197,  198 

Samson  Agonisles,  196 

Saxon  Shilling,  The,  110 

Scandinavian  theatre,  influ- 
ence of,  9 

Secret  Rose,  The,  49,  50,  78 

Seeker,  The,  53 

Seven  Short  Plays  (Lady 
Gregory),  72,  127 

Shadoivy    Waters,     The,     43, 
195 
Discussed,  75-78 
Produced,  39,  75 
Published,  75 

Shaw,  George  Bernard,  2,  19, 
71,  164,  181,  184,  188, 
190,  192 
John  BuWs  Other  Island,  4, 
188 

Sheridan,  Richard  Brinsley, 
198 

Shiubhlaigh,  Miss  Maire  nic, 
43,  150,  151,  194 

Shuiler's     Child,     The,     dis- 
cussed, 150-152 
Published,  149-150 

Sinclair,  Mr.  (actor),  43 

Sinn  Fein,  111 

Sir  Edward  Carson  and  the 
Ulster  Movement,  192 

Sleep  of  the  King,  The,  36 

Slough,  The,  169 

Smart  Set,  The,  155 

Spreading  the  News,  127 
Discussed,  128 
Pi'odueed,  39 

Spreading  the  News  and  Other 
Comedies,  127 


Stage  Irishman  of  the  Pseudo- 
Celtic  Drama,  The,  62, 
63 
Stephens,  James,  111,  180 
Works  :     Charivoman^ s 
Daughter,    The,    180 
Crock  of  Gold,  The,  111, 

180 
Demi-Gods,  The,  180 
St.  Enda's  College,  Dublin, 

117 
Stokes,  Whitley,  117 
St.  Patrick's  Purgatory,  4 
Stranger,  The,  149,  150 
Strike  at  Arlingford,  The,  24 

Produced,  14 
Strindbcrg,  August,  7 
Studies  (Colum),  117 
Swift,  Dean,  197 
Sivord  of  Welleran,  The,  154 
Symons,  Arthur,  74 

"  Fool  of  the  World,  The,  74 
Synge,  J.  M.,  36,  37,  43,  48, 
54,  80,  81,  83,  88-109, 
110,     113,     117,     119, 
120,     121,     126,     133, 
138,     148,     149,     169, 
178,     186,     191,     194, 
197 
Brevity  of  career,  92 
Criticism  of,  93,  98,   101, 

106,  185,  190 
Death  of,  193 
Genius  of,  89-91,  104,  107 
Masterpiece,  108 
Parody  of,  173 
Quoted,  90,  104,  105 
Rank  of,  109 
Travels,  90,  91 
Use  of  idiom,  104-105,  106 
Works  :  Aran  Islands,  The, 
90,94 
Deirdre   of   the   Sorrotvs, 
81,  92,   106,   107-109, 
130,  136 


INDEX 


223 


Synge,  J.  M.,  Works —  (con- 
tinued) 

In  the  Shadow  of  the 
Glen,  37,  43,  80,  92, 
93-94,  98,  110 

In  Wicklow,  West  Kerry 
and  Connemara,  91 

Playboy  of  the  Western 
World,  The,  43,  59,  63, 
98-99,  101-106,  108, 
109,     136,     137,     138, 

148,  178,  195 
Poems  and  Translations, 

92 
Riders  to  the  Sea,    The, 

39,  94-96,  109 
Tinker's    Wedding,    The, 

96-98 
Well  of  the  Saints,   The, 

39,  43,  96,  99-102,  113 
Writing  and  environment, 

88-92 

Tale   of  a    Town,    The,    dis- 
cussed, 23-25 
Produced,  25,  27 
PubHshed,  22 
Tartarin  of  Tarascon,  106 
Tents  of  the  Arabs,  The,  dis- 
cussed, 160-161 
Produced    and    published, 
155 
Thedtre  Frangais,  41 
Theatre  Libre,  1,  8,  33 
"Theatre  of  Ireland,  The", 

149,  170 

Thomas  Muskerry,  115-116, 
137 

Thompson  in  Tir-na-n'Og, 
172 

Three  Plays  (O'Kelly),  149 

Time,  169 

Time  and  the  Gods,  154 

Tinker's  Wedding,  The,  dis- 
cussed, 96-98 


Produced,  98 
Published,  96,  98 
Todhunter,  John,  49 
Travelling  Man,  The,  127 
Troth,  The,  discussed,  177 

Published,  175 
Turn  of  the  Road,   The,  dis- 
cussed, 175-176 
Pubhshed,  175 
Produced,  172 
Twenty-Five,    produced,    37, 
127 
Pubhshed,  127 
Twisting    of    the    Rope,    The 
(Casadh  an  t-Sugdin), 
produced,  6,  32 
Importance  of,  32 


Uladh,  171 

Ulster  Literary  Theatre,  170- 
192,  195 
Origin    and    environment, 

170-175 
Playwrights     of :      Camp- 
bell, Joseph,  172,  173, 
174 
Ervine,     St.     John     G., 

179-192 
Hobson,  Bulmer,  171 
"MacNamara,  Gerald", 

172 
Mayne,  Rutherford,  172, 

173,  175-179 
Purcell,  Lewis,  171,  172, 

173,  181 
Stephens,  James,  180 
Ulster  Theatre  Society,  175, 

176,  178,  195 
Unicorn  from  the  Stars,  The, 
126 
Discussed,  68-70 
Produced    and    published, 
67 
United  Irishman,  The,  111 


224 


INDEX 


Wanderings  of  Oisin,  49 

Weokes,  Charles,  48 

Well  of  the  Saints,  The,  43,  96 

Discussed,  99-102 

Produced,  39,  99 

Published,  99,  113 
Wells,  H.  G.,  190 
When  the  Dawn  is  Come,  167 
When  the  Mist  does  be  on  the 

Bog,  172 
Where  There  is  Nothing,  dis- 
cussed, 68-71 

Produced    and    published, 
67 
White  Cockade,  The,  130,  135 

Discussed,  135-136 

Produced    and    published, 
135 
White  Feather,  The,  168 
Wicklow,  91,  97 
Wild  Duck,  The,  17,  148 
Wild  Earth,  111 
Wilde,  Oscar,  4,  69,  192,  198 
Wilson,  A.  P.,  169 

Slough,  The,  169 
Wind  Among  the  Reeds,  The, 
50,  51,  52,  78,  85,  86 
Workhouse   Ward,   The,   127, 
137 

Discussed,  128 

Yeats,  W.  B.,  2,  5,  6,  7,  10, 
14,  18,  21,  27,  33,  34, 
35,  36,  41,  42,  43,  47- 
87,  88,  124,  125,  133, 
134,  150,  162,  191, 
193,  194,  195,  197 

Championship  of  Synge, 
89-90,  102 

Collaboration  with  Lady 
Gregory,  64,  67,  70, 
71,  72,  122-123 

Contribution  to  Irish 
theatre,  85,  87 

Criticism  of,  62-63,  80,  185 


Division       of       dramatic 

works,  53-54 
Education,  48 
Interest  in  mystic  sj'^mbol- 

ism,  50-52,  78 
Literary  activities,  49-50 
Maturity   of  Ivric  genius, 

50-52 
Miscellaneous  plays,  55-74 
Miscellaneous  works :  Book 

of  Irish  Verse,  A ,  50 
Celtic  Twilight,  49,  50 
Collected   Works,  51,  54, 

67,76 
Countess     Cathleen     and 

Various    Legends    and 

Lyrics,  49 
Death  of  Cuchullin,  78 
Fairy  and  Folk  Tales  of 

the  Irish  Peasantry,  59, 

72 
In  the  Seven  Woods,  52 
Island  of  Statues,  The,  53 
John  Sherman,  69 
Mosada,  53 
Poems,  50 

Responsibilities,  52,  72 
Reveries    over    Childhood 

and  Youth,  75 
Secret  Rose,  The,  49,  50, 

78 
Seeker,  The,  53 
Wanderings  of  Oisin,  49 
Wind  Among  the  Reeds, 

The,  50,  51,  52,  78,  85, 

86 
Plays :    Cathleen  ni  Houli- 
han (^ith  Ladv  Greg- 
ory), 33,  36,  37,  63-66, 

71,  171 
Countess    Cathleen,    The, 

6,  11,  32,  53,  54,  55- 

59,  62,  63,  67,  100 
Deirdre,   42,   43,   81-83, 

107,  108 


INDEX 


225 


Yeats,  W.  B.,  Plays— (cow- 

tinued) 
Green   Helmet,    The,   52, 

83-84,  134 
Hour  Glass,  The,  37,  72, 

73-74 
King's    Threshold,     The, 

37,  43,  79-80 
Land  of  Heart's  Desire, 
The,    14,    37,    49,   53, 
59-62 
On  Bailees    Strand,    43, 

78-79,  83 
Player  Queen,  The,  84^ 
Plays      for      an      Irish 
Theatre,  54,  64,  67,  71, 
79 
Pot   of   Broth,    A    (with 
Lady  Gregory),  36,  37, 
71,  72 
Shadowy  Waters,  The,  39, 
43,  75-78,  195 


Unicorn  from  the  Stars, 
The  (with  Lady  Greg- 
ory), 67,  68-70,  126 
Where  There  is  Nothing, 
67,  68-70 
Plays  of  Gaelic  Legend  and 

History,  75-87 
Purpose  of,  7-8 
Quoted,  11,  32,  33-34,  34- 
35,  38,  40,  45-46,  64, 
66,  67,  68,  70,  73,  75, 
80,  86,  89,  198 
Rank  of,  86-87 
Recent  verse,  86  ^ 

Recognition  of  Dunsany  8 

genius,  154 
Revision  of  plays,  84 
Style  of,  74 
Theory  of,  45-46 
Writing  and  environment, 
47-54 
Yellow  Book,  The,  2 


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